f3 


"  Not  only  unequalled,  but  unapproached.      A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review 

BANCROFT   LIBRARY 

THE  NATIVE  RACES  OF  THE 
PACIFIC  STATES 

Complete  in  5  vols.,  8vo.,  4,088  pages,  with  Maps  and  Illustrations. 

By  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

The  territory  covered  by  this  work  embraces  the  west 
ern  half  of  North  America,  from  Panama  to  Alaska,  and  including  all  of 
Mexico  and  Central  America.  All  that  is  known  of  the  aboriginal 

peoples  inhabiting  this  vast  area  at  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  first 
Europeans  is  here  given.  All  that  can  ever  be  known  of  them 

is  here  delineated,  for  there  is  no  evidence  in  existence  which  has  not  been 
examined,  no  sources  of  information  which  have  not  been  found  and  applied; 
and  as  the  native  nations  are  rapidly  passing  away,  and,  indeed,  for 
the  most  part  have  already  disappeared,  there  are  no  other  means  on  earth, 
and  so  far  as  human  judgment  can  go,  there  will  never  be  any  other  means 
by  which  we  can  learn  further  regarding  them. 

Nor  can  their  origin,  even,  be  ever  definitely  determined  until 
the  mighty  problems  are  solved  which  seem  among  those  destined  for  man 
not  yet  to  know — the  origin  of  species,  whether  mankind  on  this  planet 
descend  from  a  single  pair,  originally  and  perfectly  created  by  an  omnipotent 
deity,  or  are  the  result  of  evolution  from  lower  organisms  indigenous  to  the  soil 
and  resulting  in  many  primitive  pairs.  Then,  too,  if  the  first  hypothesis  is 
sustained,  there  must  be  found,  before  the  question  of  origin  can  be  settled, 
a  record  of  the  world's  migrations?  of  the  flow  of  human 
streams  throughout  countless  ages,  not  to  mention  the  innumerable  physical 
changes  in  the  earth's  geologic  history,  which  left  it  possible  for  peoples  to 
march  hither  and  thither  over  the  face  of  the  globe,  over  lands  which  are  now 
seas  and  seas  which  are  now  lands,  midst  the  tremendous  convulsions  of 
nature  which  at  epochs  have  entirely  changed  the  face  of  things,  with  moun 
tain  tops  under  oceans,  and  icebergs  in  the  tropics.  Hence,  as  to  the  sixty 
and  more  existing  theories  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Americans,  the  author, 
after  fairly  presenting  them  all,  says  that  one  is  about  as  valuable  as  another, 
all  being  worthless. 

The  division  of  such  a  great  subject  as  that  presented 
in  these  volumes  into  .such  natural  parts  as  to  enable  the  reader  to  grasp  it, 
as  a  whole  or  in  detail,  required  no  small  consideration  on  the  part  of  the 
author.  Besides  the  innumerable  tribes  and  languages,  there 
were  endless  dialects  and  subdivisions  which  it  became  necessary  to  follow 
back  into  the  mists  of  the  ages.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  never  was  such 
a  work  before  performed  for  any  primitive  people  which  ever 
occupied  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  never  can  it  be  done  again,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  similar  conditions  are  nowhere  else  existing. 


The  main  divisions  of  the  subject    naturally  arranged  themselves  for 
treatment  and  elucidation  as  follows: 

I.     WIIvD  TRIBES  II.     CIVILIZED  NATIONS 

III.     MYTHS  AND  LANGUAGES  IV.     ANTIQUITIES 
V.     PRIMITIVE  HISTORY  OF  BOTH  SAVAGE  AND  CIVILIZED  PEOPLES 


A  portion 


only  of  the  many  subdivisons  can  be  here  given,  such 
as,  first  the  peoples : 

Hoopas 

Shastas 

Napas 

Petalumas 

Mayas 

Quiches 

Aztecs 

Toltecs 

Miztecs 


Eskimos 
Koniagas 
Aleuts 

Apaches 
Navajos 
Pueblos 

Thlinkeets 
Haidas 

Moquis 
Sinaloas 

Chinooks 

Pimas 

Shuswaps 
Shoshones 

Maricopas 
Klamaths 

Mojaves 

Modocs 

Zapotecs 

Chichimecs 

Otimis 

Chontales 

Popolucas 

Guatusos 

Caimanes 

and  hundreds  of  others. 


Among 

Aspects  of  Nature 
Speculations  on  Origin 
Adaptability  to  Locality 
Classification  of  Species 
Effect  of  Climate 
Ethnological  Tests 
First  Europeans 
Aboriginal  Civilization 
Laws  of  Succession 
Ceremony  of  Annointment 
Ceremony  of  Coronation 
Picture  Writing 
Medicine  Men 
Priesthood 

Order  of  Knighthood 
Laws  and  Law  Courts 
Elections 

Military  Profession 
Crimes  and  Punishments 
Working  in  Metals,  Paints, 

and  Dyes 
Education 
Marriage 
Concubinage 
Tobacco  Smoking 
Agriculture 
Floating  Gardens 
Irrigation 
Monuments 
Casas  Grandes 
Manners  and  Customs 


the  subjects  treated  are: 

Physical  Characteristics 
Government 
Religion 
Mythology 
Literature 
Languages 
Dialects 

Food 
Dwellings 
Navigation 
Boats 
Sledges 
Snow-shoes 
Feasts 

Social  Condition 

Amusements 

Women 

Diseases 

Antiquities 
Calendar 

Remedies 
Burials 

Judiciary 
Pottery 
Palaces 

Arts 
Commerce 
Manufactures 

Temples 
Terra-Cotta 
Mounds 

Property 
Weapons 
War 

Pyramids 
Idols 
Cliff  Carvings 
Altars 

Fortifications 
Slavery 
Nobility 
Revenues 

Statues 

Tribute 

Towers 

Games 

Sculpture 
Painting 
Poetry 
Music 

Sacrifices 
Cannibalism 
Market   Places 
Fairs 

History 
Bibliography 
Ornament 

Traditions 
Migrations 
and  a  thousand  others 

Dress 

The  preparation  for  writing  this  work  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Bancroft 
was  simply  immense.  Besides  collecting  a  large  library,  all  that  was  in 
existence  on  the  subject  in  America  and  Europe,  and  which  constituted  the 
bulk  of  the  material  for  this  as  well  as  for  his  subsequent  works,  Mr.  Bancroft 
sent  men  into  the  field,  specialists,  ethnologists,  linguists,  to  view  the  wild 
man.  in  his  home,  and  study  the  subject  from  nature.  Two  persons 
were  thus  sent  to  the  north,  one  of  whom  made  investigations  in  Oregon, 
Washington,  British  Columbia,  and  the  region  to  the  eastward,  while  the 
other,  after  making  vocabularies  and  examining  the  customs  of  the  various 
tribes  of  Alaska,  lived  one  winter  with  the  Aleuts  in  their 
subterranean  abode.  Several  years  were  spent  by  other  of  his  experts  study 
ing  the  tribes  of  California,  and  the  countries  to  the  south  and  east,  little  of 
which  v/ork  could  have  been  done  at  a  later  period.  The  results  of  their 
labors  when  written  out  were  added  to  Mr.  Bancroft's  other  material.  In 
central  and  southern  Mexico  and  Central  America  similar  investigations  had 
been  earlier  made  by  Spanish  and  German  ethnologists,  whose  writings  Mr. 
Bancroft  utilized  in  his  studies.  Very  few  books  have  been  made  in  this 
manner — going  out  into  the  field  and  gathering  up  thousands  of  new,  fresh, 
and  interesting  facts,  then  working  over  this  raw  material,  and  embodying 
with  it  the  results  of  what  all  others  have  done,  until  the  finished  work 
appears  in  all  its  attractive  forms  and  comeliness. 

When  we  consider  the  immense  expense  and  labor  which 
have  been  incurred  in  producing  this  work,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  written 
from  original  material,  and  that  a  large  portion  of  the  vast  fund  of 
information  to  be  found  in  it  does  not  exist  elsewhere;  we  begin  to  realize 
the  value  of  what  Mr.  Bancroft  has  done  in  thus  saving  to  the  world  so 
much  valuable  knowledge  which  otherwise  would  have  been  lost. 

Nor  is  it  much  to  say  that  no  library  is  complete  without  it.  A  copy 
of  the  book  should  be  in  every  household,  where  it  can 
be  constantly  read  and  referred  to  by  every  member  of  the  family,  and  for  the 
following  reasons  : 

The  work  is  overflowing  with  interest,  instruction,  and 
entertainment. 

It  will  forever  be  the  original  and  standard  authority. 

The  last  volume  contains  a  full  index,  so  that  any  subject  may  be 
instantly  and  easily  found. 

It  is  only  by  knowing  what  man  has  been  that  we  are  able  to 
conceive  of  what  he  may  be. 

Facts  properly  presented  are  more  wonderful  and  interesting 
than  fiction,  and  far  more  beneficial. 

CONDITIONS. — The  volumes  are  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and 
neatly  and  substantially  bound;  they  are  uniform  in  style,  and  average  over 
800  pages  each.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless  it 
corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  -      $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  -      5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -     10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

N.  R.    3. 


OPINIONS 

"Recognized  as  an  authority  of  the  first  rank." — New  York  Tribune. 

"Deals  with  subjects  of  deep  human  interest." — S.  F.  Chronicle. 

"One  of  the  most  notable  works  in  our  literature." — Literary   World. 

"I  am  finding  your  collection  of  facts  very  valuable  for  my  own  more  immediate  ends 
in  writing  the  Principles  of  Sociology. ' ' — Herbert  Spencer. 

"His  style  is  at  once  vigorous  and  suave ;  descending  now  with  Hume  into  the  pro 
fundities  of  philosophic  thought;  now  soaring  with,  Ruskin  into  the  realms  of  poetic 
fancy,  or  breaking  forth  frequently  with  the  unmistakable  brilliancy  of  genius.  He 
shows  ability  in  depicting  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  in  portraying  character  and  motive. 
Nor  does  he  fail  in  the  subtleties  of  sarcasm;  and  in  the  use  of  classic  allusions  he  shows  a 
prudence  admirably  distinct  from  the  affectation  of  mere  sippers  at  the  Pierian  fountains. 
Though  precise  like  Gibbon,  he  avoids  his  formality;  though  massive,  he  rounds  his 
acute  stateliness.  America  may  well  be  proud  of  her  western  historian,  who  must  take 
his  place  with  the  foremost  of  the  age." — Sacramento  Record- Union. 

"As  author  of  The  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States,  Mr  Bancroft  has  already  estab 
lished  his  reputation  as  one  of  the  most  learned  and  industrious  historians  of  the  present 
day.  But  comprehensive  in  scope  and  exhaustive  in  treatment  as  that  work  certainly 
was,  it  formed,  after  all,  little  more  than  a  general  introduction  to  the  magnificent 
scheme  of  what  we  have  here  a  first  instalment.  Should  the  writer  be  spared  to  com 
plete  this  stupendous  undertaking,  as  briefly  set  forth  in  the  preface,  he  will  have 
accomplished  probably  the  most  colossal  literary  achie\ement  of  the  nineteenth  century." 
— London  Academy. 

<fMr  Bancroft  has  surprised  the  reading  world  with  his  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific 
States,  wherein  he  gives  astonishing  glimpses  into  an  antiquity  rivalling  that  of  Hgypt 
and  discloses  the  little-thought-of  fact,  that  which  is  called  the  New  World  is,  quite  as 
likely  as  not,  the  old  one,  ethnologically  as  well  as  geologically.  This  work  is  regarded 
as  a  marvel  of  research,  and  justly  so,  in  comparison  with  most  works  in  the  historic 
field,  and  has  the  further  credit  of  investing  a  naturally  dry  theme  with  a  singularly 
living  interest.  It  has  been  at  once  accepted  as  a  standard  work,  and  its  author  thought 
to  have  fixed  himself  among  the  first  historic  writers  of  the  day." — Chicago  Times. 

"He  has  done  more  than  any  public  society  would  have  done  for  fifty  years  to  come, 
and  what  perhaps  no  society  could  do  at  any  later  period." — P.  B.  Avery. 

"It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  amount  of  wealth  would  make  it  possible  at  this  day  to 
gather  such  a  library." — Oregonian. 

"No  tribute  can  be  too  great  to  the  industry  and  research  of  the  author." — British 
Quarterly  Review. 

"Mr  Bancroft  has  made  himself  very  largely  the  world's  creditor." — 5.  F.  Bulletin. 
"You  have  done  yourself  and  your  State  great  honor." — Samuel  L.  M.  Barlow. 
"An  undertaking  for  which  civilization  owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude." — Century. 
"Mr  Ban  croft  merits  very  high  praise." — Glasgow  Herald. 

"There  are  not  lacking  those  to  encourage  the  unselfish  labor  of  such  a  man." — Denver 
Tribune. 

"To  Mr  Bancroft  we  tender  cordial  congratulations,  with  assurances  of  our  sincere 
appreciation  of  the  ability,  candor  and  research  which  characterize  every  step  in  the 
progress  of  his  great  work." — New  York  Independent. 

"For  the  intellectual  and  social  elevation  of  California,  Mr  H.  H.  Bancroft,  in  his 
historical  labor,  has  essayed  to  do  what  only  the  generations  that  are  to  be  will  fully 
appreciate,  but  which,  in  its  aim,  its  methods,  its  material,  its  workmanship,  is  worthy 
of  unqualified  praise.  "—Charles  Dana  Barrows 

"The  wonder  aud  admiration  of  all  literary  men ;  and  will  be  a  lasting  monument  of 
the  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance  of  a  man  who  is  devoting  the  best  part  of  his 
life  to  enrich  the  literature  of  the  world  by  giving  to  it  a  correct  history  of  this  hitherto 
almost  unknown  and  incomprehensible  part  of  the  globe."— /.  M.  Hamilton. 
N.  R.    4. 


"Not  only   unequalled,  but  unapproached.      A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 


HISTORY  OF 

CENTRAL  AMERICA 

Complete  in  3  volumes,  8vo.,  2,449  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

This  was  the  first  part  of  the  North  American  continent  to  be 
settled  by  Europeans,  and  the  historical  field  is  new.  Except  this  work, 
there  is  nothing  extant  in  any  language  which  might  properly  be  called  a 
history  of  Central  America;  and  being  the  first  to  have  worked  the  field  over 
from  original  material  gathered  from  Mexico,  Central  America,  England, 
France,  and  Spain — material  of  which  there  is  no  other  such  collec 
tion  in  existence — Mr  Bancroft's  work  can  justly  claim  for  itself  exceptional 
value.  A  glance  at  Europe,  the  state  of  society  there,  is  given  in  the  intro 
ductory  chapter,  particularly  Spanish  civilization  at  the  opening  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  It  was  from  Spain  that  the  first  expeditions  of  discovery, 
conquest,  and  colonization  set  forth  for  the  New  World;  it  was. the  Spanish 
monarchs  who  first  undertook  the  pacification  of  the  Indians — 
that  is,  their  subjugation  and  conversion  to  Christianity.  It  is  now  nearly 
400  years  since  Columbus  turned  his  face  westward,  to  penetrate  the  Sea  of 
Darkness,  and  find  a  short  route  to  the  other  side  of  India;  and  for  a 
century  or  so  Spain  had  it  very  much  her  own  way.  True,  Portugal 
claimed  half  of  the  heathen  world,  and  France  and  England  later  on  got 
footholds  in  America;  but  Spain  distanced  them  all.  Even  before  Columbus 
had  examined  the  coast  of  Central  America,  Rodrigo  de  Bastidas  had  been 
there,  exchanging  with  the  natives  worthless  trinkets  for  solid 
gold.  Trading- vessels  in  those  days  were  very  small,  usually  from  60  to  80 
tons  burden,  and  navigators  suffered  incredible  hardships,  not 
alone  on  sea  but  on  land,  from  malaria,  exposure,  and  lack  of  food,  and  often 
from  the  savages.  The  adventures  of  these  Spaniards,  who  were  much  more 
bold  and  chivalrous  than  any  of  their  race  have  ever  been  since,  are  full  of 
thriliingf  interest.  It  was  truly  wonderful,  to  the  half-awake  inhabi 
tants  of  Europe,  the  discovery  and  examination  of  these  new  lands  and  seas 
to  the  westward,  and  all  around  the  world.  The  Strange  people  they 
found  puzzled  them  greatly.  Where  had  they  come  from,  how  did  they  get 
there,  and  had  they  souls  ?  These  and  other  like  questions  they  sought  to 
solve  by  referring  to  the  sacred  scriptures  and  the  writings  of  the  ancients. 
They  did  not  pause  to  enquire  how  the  Hebrews  and  Greeks  of  3,000  years 
ago  could  know  more  of  the  matter  than  they.  A  very  scholarly  summary 
of  early  voyages  down  to  1540  is  given  in  vol.  I,  with  copies  of  the 
first  maps  attempted  to  be  drawn. 

The  New  World  must  have  laws  and  government,  hence 
proper  space  is  devoted  to  the  administration  of  the  Indies.  Graphic  accounts 
of  the  Settlements  at  Darien  and  elsewhere,  with  the  factions  and  forag- 
ings  attending  the  same,  are  presented;  also  the  impositions,  treacheries,  and 
butcheries  attending  conversion  and  gold-gathering.  The  discovery  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean  by  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa  forms  a  brilliant  episode. 
After  crossing  the  Isthmus  with  a  handful  of  men,  hostile  savages  everywhere 
opposing  their  progress,  from  the  top  of  a  hill  the  broad  bright  water  is  finally 


seen;  thereupon  they  go  down  to  it,  and  the  chief,  drawing  his  sword,  wades 
pompously  out  into  it,  calling  on  all  to  witness  his  taking  possession 
for  the  King  of  Spain  of  all  that  ocean,  and  all  the  land  it  washes,  to  the 
uttermost  ends  of  it.  The  second  volume  opens  with  the  dramatic 
Story  of  Pizarro  and  Peru;  after  which  details  of  the  conquest  and  settle 
ment  of  the  several  sections  of  Panama,  Costa  Rica,  Guatemala,  Honduras, 
Nicaragua,  and  Salvador  are  given. 

Here  come  the  adventures  of  the  Buccaneers,  with  their 
piratical  raids  along  the  coast  and  on  the  islands.  Nearly  a  century  of  the 
history  of  the  five  Republics  is  given  in  the  third  and  last  volume. 
There  are  the  closing  scenes  of  Spanish  rule,  the  achieving  of  inde 
pendence,  with  some  ta*k  of  union  with  Mexico.  Confederation  is 
attempted,  but  fails.  All  along  the  decades  is  an  incessant  din  of  civil 
war  and  revolutions.  The  filibuster  Walker  puts  his  finger  in  the  pie  and 
loses  his  head.  Inter  oceanic  communication  is  much  talked  of 
and  attempted.  Finally,  after  the  progressive  autocrat  of  Guatemala,  Barrios, 
is  killed  while  attempting  once  more  to  join  the  several  Republics  of  Central 
America  under  one  government,  peace  and  prosperity  reign.  It  is 
a  rich  and  romantic  country,  and  well  repays  the  reader  desiring 
further  knowledge  of  it.  There  is  no  spot  of  earth  which  offers  more 
attractions  for  emigrants  and  colonizers  than  this.  In  the  interior 
the  soil  is  good,  the  climate  temperate  and  pleasant,  and  the  air  healthy. 

The  state  of  society,  of  government,  of  religion,  of  commerce 
and  industry,  are  all  fully  set  forth;  also  judicial  and  military  matters,  and 
the  resources  and  commerce  of  the  country. 

In  these  three  volumes  are  the  histories  of  five  republics  for  a  period 
of  nearly  four  centuries.  It  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  world  nowhere 
else  given.  It  is  full,  intensely  interesting,  and  complete. 

CONDITIONS. — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly 
and  substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work 
unless  it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH       -  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  -                                          5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF- MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES    -  ,                           7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL-MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE    -  -     10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


SPKCIMKN    OPINIONS 

"The  Native  Races  gave  Mr  Bancroft  at  once  a  distinguished  position  as  an  investigator, 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  his  additions  to  our  previous  knowledge  of  the  civil 
ization  which  the  Spaniards  found  on  the  Pacific  Coast  were  so  important  and  so  interest 
ing  that  they  seemed  like  disclosures.  He  is  now  recognized  as  an  authority  of  the  first 
rank.  Mr  Bancroft  has  had  access  to  a  multitude  of  documents  which  were  unknown  to 
the  earlier  historian,  and  has  followed  a  method  much  more  searching  and  precise  than 
suited  Irving's  temperament.  As  a  consequence,  we  have  a  narrative  which  is  practically 
new,  abounding  in  picturesque  detail,  and  presenting  the  tragical  romance  of  discovery 
and  conquest  with  a  particularity  and  vividness  it  has  never  possessed  in  any  previous 
record.  The  story  is  well  constructed,  and  in  spite  of  the  profusion  of  incidents,  it  is 
clear,  it  is  interesting,  and  it  is  animated.  Of  the  writer's  sincere  regard  for  the  truth 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt.  To  the  history  proper  he  prefixes  a  brilliant  introductory 
chapter  upon  Spanish  character  and  civilization  at  the  period  of  the  conquest ;  and  this 
is  followed  by  the  story  of  Columbus,  and  an  exhaustive  and  admirable  summary  of 
geographical  knowledge  and  discovery  from  the  earliest  record  to  the  year  1540.  We 
might  copy  specimen  pages  almost  at  random  without  danger  of  doing  Mr  Bancroft 
injustice,  for  he  is  never  dull." — New  York  Tribune. 

"  His  methods  of  writing  history  are  nothing  less  than  royal.  Judged  purely  and 
simply  as  a  literary  performance,  there  is  the  highest  praise  to  be  awarded  to  this  history 
of  Central  America.  Too  much  praise  can  not  be  given  for  his  candor,  his  spirit  of 
equity,  and  love  of  truth.  The  book  grows  more  and  more  interesting  until  the  final 
page.  The  work,  as  a  whole,  is  superb,  and  calls  for  genuine  enthusiasm.  We  are  proud 
that  such  an  undertaking  has  arisen  in  this  land — an  undertaking  which  will  surely  add 
no  less  glory  to  our  literary  history  than  Prescott's  or  Irving's  immortal  work." — 
Philadelphia  Press. 

"  So  far  as  is  known,  business  methods,  as  they  may  be  called,  have  never  been 
applied  on  so  complete  a  scale,  to  the  preparation  of  such  a  work.  The  result  is  mar 
vellous — marvellous  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  labor  which  one  man  is  thus  enabled  to 
accomplish  within  a  given  time.  The  value  of  the  history,  considered  as  a  whole,  depends 
upon  the  master-mind  which  directs  the  whole — upon  its  capacity  to  group  facts  and 
generalize  from  them.  This  breadth,  vigor,  and  clearness  of  mental  grasp  Mr  Bancroft 
has  in  an  eminent  degree.  For  the  first  time,  the  story  of  the  beginnings  of  Spanish 
occupation  of  America  is  put  into  a  connected  and  lucidly  arranged  form  in  the  English 
tongue.  A  large  portion  of  the  cited  authorities  have  never  hitherto  been  known  to 
the  world.  Mr  Bancroft  has  unearthed  old  sUte  and  ecclesiastical  manuscripts  of 
whose  existence  all  traces  had  been  lost,  and  has  thrown  a  flood  of  light  upon  subjects 
which  have  seemed  forever  obscured.  This  is  notably  so  in  two  or  three  points.  For 
example,  it  has  always  seemed  a  most  extraordinary  thing  that  Columbus  should  meet 
with  the  failures  which  attended  his  colonization  enterprises,  and  the  repeated  neglects 
and  abuses  of  those  in  power,  if  he  was  indeed  the  ready-to-be-canonized  saint  that 
Irving,  for  instance,  paints  him.  Mr.  Bancroft  makes  the  matter  clear.  With  judicial 
fairness  he  shows  the  weak  as  well  as  the  strong  points  of  the  man's  character,  and  one 
sees  clearly  how  the  very  characteristics  that  led  to  his  success  as  a  navigator  and 
discoverer  totally  unfitted  him  to  be  either  soldier  or  politician ;  and,  combined  with 
unquestionably  unjust  treatment,  made  the  latter  part  of  his  life  full  of  almost,  or  quite, 
insane  delusions.  The  day  will  come  when  the  beginnings  of  the  history  of  the  vast 
empire,  yet  in  its  babyhood,  on  our  Pacific  slope,  will  be  studied  more  curiously  than 
that  of  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and  no  other  work  can  ever  hope  to  rival  that  of 
Mr  Bancroft  as  the  standard  authority." — Chicago  Times. 

"Mr  Bancroft  is  a  remarkable  man.  His  volumes  are  rich  and  attractive,  and  cram 
med  full  of  good  learning.  The  Columbus  portion  I  have  enjoyed  thoroughly.  It  seems 
to  me  the  author's  aim  is  truth,  and  not  eulogy.  Having  previously  studied  somewhat" 
the  subject  of  the  early  maps,  I  was  particularly  interested  in  his  long  note  on  that 
important  theme.  His  criticisms  on  those  writers  who  had  previously  gone  over  his 
ground,  or  a  portion  of  it,  are  fair  and  generous.  The  introduction  to  this  book  is  a 
marvellous  piece  of  generalization." — Charles  Dean. 

"Unequalled  by  any  ancient  or  modern  work  of  history.  For  hundreds  of  pages  this 
book  burns  with  the  infernal  record  of  religious  crime.  The  historian  writes  through  it 
\vkh  his  pen  afire ;  the  reader  shudders  through  it,  his  heart  sick,  and  his  eyes  ablaze. 
The  style  is,  upon  the  whole,  admirajle.  It  is  vivid  and  truthful  as  expressive  of  the 
idea.  Much  of  it  touches  a  high  eloquence.  Pictures  stand  out  sometimes,  each  from 
a  single  felicitous  word.  The  historian  frequently  suggests  the  picturesque  groupings 
of  Carlyle  without  any  of  his  outlandish  dressing  of  words.  You  see  the  thing  which  is 
sought  to  be  presented,  and  the  eye  is  not  too  much  caught  by  the  pigments.  It  is 
throughout  as  cool  and  clear  a  chapter  of  scholarly  exposition  as  it  has  been  our  good 
fortune  to  see  for  many  a  day." — S.  F.  Bulletin. 


"Not  only  unequalled,    but   unapproached.     A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a   generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Revieiv. 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICO 

Complete  in  6  Vols.,  8vo.,  4,853  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 


The  importance  of  Mexico's  history,  as  compared  with  that  of  other 
nations,  is  second  to  none.  In  regard  to  time,  it  is  a  century  older  than 
the  United  States;  it  has  passed  through  more  crucial  tests  in  the  progress 
of  its  development,  and  solved  more  of  the  problems  of  civilization  than  any 
oiher  nation  in  America. 

Coming  into  the  field  fresh  from  their  wars  with  the  Moors,  fired  with 
fanaticism,  and  full  of  the  love  of  gold  and  glory,  the  Spaniards  quickly 
evolved  a  new  phase  of  society.  Being  out  of  reach  of  their  King,  and  away 
from  the  restraining  influence  of  home  rule,  they  unbridled  their  lusts,  and 
gave  themselves  over  to  a  reign  of  passion.  With  singular  indifference  to 
physical  comforts,  or  even  to  life,  were  mingled  avarice  and  religion  in  such 
parts  as  to  produce  the  most  diabolical  effects.  The  immorality,  treachery, 
deceit,  and  hypocrisy  then  engendered  the  blood  of  a  hundred  revolutions 
has  not  been  able  wholly  to  wash  from  the  soil  of  Mexico.  Nevertheless, 
the  history  of  this  country  is  a  narrative  of  emergencies  from  the 
black  caldrons  of  tyranny  and  superstition.  It  is  intensely  interesting 
to  follow  them  in  their  thrilling  adventures,  and  a  most  profitable  study 
to  watch  them  in  their  struggles  for  the  emancipation  of  intellect.  The 
subject  naturally  divides  itself  into  three  parts:  The  Conquest,  Mexico 
under  the  Viceroys,  and  The  Republic. 

The  story  of  the  Conquest  vies  in  thrilling  interest  with  any  of 
the  tales  of  chivalry  or  knight-errantry.  The  efforts  and  final  failure  of  the 
Sovereigns  of  Spain,  from  their  throne  in  the  old  world  to  govern  the*  new 
world  by  means  of  lieutenants,  or  viceroys,  presents  many  interesting  political 
and  social  studies  found  nowhere  else  in  the  annals  of  nations.  Mexico  has 
had  over  a  hundred  rulers,  two-thirds  or  more  of  whom  were  subject  to 
the  King  of  Spain.  And  the  last  epoch,  when  it  began,  all  was  darkness. 
The  people  were  half-savage  when  they  declared  independence  from  Spain,  and 
they  fought  each  other  more  than  they  fought  Spaniards  in  their  revolution 
ary  wars.  The  battle  for  intellectual  freedom,  however,  was  sublime.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century  the  Church  owned  more  than  half  of  the 
property,  real  and  personal,  in  Mexico,  while  the  people  were  steeped  in 
ignorance.  But  slowly  the  intellect  has  emerged  from  this  thick  blackness  of 
the  middle  ages,  while  the  Church  has  taken  its  proper  place.  What 
intensely  interesting  and  profitable  studies  are  here — the  Discovery 


by  Grijalva  and  Cordoba;  the  Conquest  by  Cortes  and  his  brave  companions; 
the  attempts  of  the  King  and  Pope  to  organize  government,  regulate  affairs, 
gather  gold  and  convert  the  natives.  There  was  Iturbide's  efforts  to 
establish  an  empire,  followed  by  independence  and  scores  of  brutal  civil 
wars;  then  another  effort  at  imperialism  in  the  person  of  Maximilian  of  Aus 
tria,  the  French  Emperor's  tool;  and  finally  the  present  era  of  material 
prosperity  and  mental  culture. 

There  is  yet  much,  work  for  Mexicans  to  do  before  they  become  alto 
gether  admirable,  many  problems  yet  to  be  worked  out.  There  must  be  an 
honest,  industrious,  truthful,  and  thrifty  middle  class,  which  does  not  now 
exist,  and  what  is  now  called  the  upper  class  must  show  themselves  in 
earnest  for  the  improvement  of  the  people,  and  set  a  proper  example  in  all 
things.  But  no  one  can  follow  them  in  their  future  work  of  self-regenera 
tion,  which  is  sure  to  go  on,  without  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  their 
past,  and  as  Mexico  is  more  and  more  thrown  open  to  the  world,  and  her 
almost  limitless  resources  are  more  and  more  developed,  it  becomes  a  matter 
of  the  first  necessity  for  every  intelligent,  progressive  mind  to  thoroughly 
understand  what  is  so  fully  and  vividly  explained  in  these  volumes. 

This  work  should  be  placed  on  the  shelves  of  every  library 
beside  the  great  histories  of  other  nations.  It  is  the  only  work  extant  which 
can  properly  be  called  a  history  of  Mexico,  and  as  such,  the  history  of 
the  world  is  incomplete  with  out  it.  All  authorities,  both  printed  and  in 
manuscript,  have  been  consulted,  the  archives  of  Spain  and  Mexico  have 
been  ransacked,  and  all  existing  material  utilized.  To  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States  Republic  a  complete  and  reliable  account  of  the  mineral 
and  agricultural  resources,  the  manufactures,  commerce,  and  social  condition 
of  a  neighboring  nation  must  be  of  vital  interest  and  importance. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  voi,. 
BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH     -  $4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  -     5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -      10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL- 

Mex     2 


SPECIMEN  OPINIONS 

"  It  would  not  be  possible  to  write  a  clearer  account  than  this  of  so  confused  and 
anarchic  a  subject  as  the  evolution  of  the  Mexican  people.  In  his  description  of  the 
campaigns  of  Taylor  and  Scott  in  Mexico,  Mr.  Bancroft  gives  such  vivid  and  brilliant 
pictures  of  the  engagements,  that  shame  at  the  perfidy  of  the  government  is  forgotten  in 
admiration  of  the  gallantry  of  its  agents." — TV.  Y.  Tribune. 

"  While  the  history  is  complete  and  brief,  and  picturesque  and  engaging — because 
brief — it  is  more  :  it  describes  the  people  as  a  whole  and  the  country,  how  the  one  lived 
and  how  the  other  looked.  There  are  also  pen  pictures  of  the  principal  men,  which  are 
so  faithfully  drawn  that  one  feels  sure  he  would  recognize  Cortes  or  know  Montezuma 
should  he  meet  them  on  the  street,  and  know  them  so  thoroughly  that  the  very  method 
of  approaching  them  would  come  as  second  nature.  This  is  history  in  its  most  perfect 
form,  where  there  is  given  not  only  a  correct  detail  of  events,  but  a  description  of  the 
men  who  brought  them  about  and  an  account  of  the  people  whom  they  affected.  No 
wider  difference  in  this  respect  is  found  than  between  the  methods  of  Mr.  H.  H. 
Bancroft  and  Mr.  George  Bancroft.  Both  give  us  the  fairest  and  ripest  historical  fruits, 
but  the  first  named  scatters  along  the  path  of  learning  also  the  blossoms  of  life." — 
Rochester  Herald. 

'•la  these  volumes  Mr.  Hubert  H.  Bancroft  gives  fresh  evidence  of  those  qualities 
which  have  secured  for  him  a  place  as  unique  as  it  is  prominent  among  the  historians 
of  the  period.  We  see  signs  of  the  same  marvellous  industry,  the  same  painstaking  care, 
the  same  minute  attention  to  detail,  the  same  scrupulous  regard  for  truth,  and  the  same 
fidelity  to  certain  great  controlling  principles.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  give  fresh 
interest  to  a  story  which  had  been  iold  before  by  such  writers  as  Prescott  and  Arthur 
Helps.  It  is  no  small  praise  to  Mr.  Bancroft  to  say  that  under  these  circumstances  hehas 
produced  a  really  fresh,  instructive,  and  highly  enjoyable  book.  Mr.  Bancroft  has, 
perhaps,  a  firmer  grasp  of  his  subject  than  either ;  and  the  present  volumes  have  all  the 
attractions  which  belong  to  it  as  a  related  part  of  a  grander  theme." — N.  Y.  Herald. 

"  The  style  is  admirable,  pure  English,  clear,  flexible,  picturesque,  and  homogeneous. 
The  story  is  well  told." —  Washington  Herald. 

"Open  the  book  at  random,  and  interesting  matter  greets  your.  eye.  The  style  is 
good,  and  the  pages  fairly  glisten  with  incidents.  Not  a  dull  page  between  those 
covers — young  and  old  will  delight  in  it.  The  contents  are  fresh  and  new;  not  even 
Prescott  can  claim  more  homage  from  the  reader  than  should  be  given  Mr.  Bancroft 
for  his  noble  beginning  of  a  noble  endeavor  to  be  truthful  and  captivating  at  the  same 
time." — Pittsburg  Telegraph. 

"  It  is  certainly  a  worthy  scheme,  and  is  being  carried  out  most  conscientiously." — 
London  Spectator. 

"It  is  a  labor  the  value  of  which  will  be  more  clearly  seen  as  time  goes  by." — 
Baltimore  Gazette. 

"The  chapter  which  Prescott  devotes,  in  his  Conquest  of  Mexico ,  to  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  Aztecs  is  the  most  attractive  in  his  attractive  book,  and  that  has  hereto 
fore  been  the  best  source  of  information  upon  the  matter,  within  reach  of  the  general 
English  reader;  but  it  is  now  thrown  into  the  shade  by  Mr  Bancroft's  labors." — A tta 
California. 

"A  clearer  and  more  truthful  picture  has  never  yet  been  produced." — London  News. 

"As  a  work  it  is  far  superior  to  those  of  either  Prescott  or  Robertson." — S.  F.  Argonaut. 

"The  story  of  the  conquest  has  been  many  times  told,  and  by  some  whose  works 
have  long  been  recognized  as  among  English  classics,  yet  one  is  strongly  tempted, 
upon  laying  down  this  volume,  to  say  that  it  has  never  been  so  well  told." — Chicago 
Times. 

"To  those  who  will  carefully  study  Bancroft's  Mexican  history,  that  whole  country 
will  become  classic  ground." — Helena  Herald. 

"He  has  certainly  set  the  story  of  Mexico  before  the  world  with  an  attraction  it 
has  never  had  before." — N.  Y.  Home  Journal. 

"It  does  not  lack  Prescott's  brilliancy  of  style,  and  it  has  a  breadth  which  the  former 
lacks." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"We  can  think  of  no  more  severe  test  of  a  historian  than  to  ask  him  to  write  an 
orderly  and  perspicuous  narrative  of  Mexican  affairs,  which  Mr.  Bancroft  has  done. 
His  account  of  the  whole  period  seems  to  be  the  best  yet  written." — N.  Y.  Post. 

"Graphic  and  vivid  chapters  appear  throughout  every  volume." — Century. 

"The  direct  interest  Texas  has  in  it  makes  it  peculiarly  fitting  that  it  should  find  a 
large  and  generous  patronage  in  this  state." — Texas  Baptist  and  Herald. 

"Stronger  than  any  fiction,  more  thrilling  than  any  romance." — Waco  Advance. 

"Mr.  Bancroft  is  deserving  of  the  hearty  support  of  our  citizens." — Austin  Statesman* 
Mex.  3 


'•Xot  only  unequalled,  but  unapproached.  A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review, 

HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

AND   THE 

NORTH    MEXICAN  STATES. 

In  2  vols.,  8vo,  1667  pages,  with  maps  and  plans. 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT. 

The  dream  of  many  Americans  is  the  acquisition  of  more  soil  from 
Mexico.  They  cannot  but  compare  the  good  use  to  which  Texas,  New 
Mexico,  Arizona,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  California  have  been  put,  with  the 
condition  in  which  Mexico  leaves  Coahuila,  Chihuahua,  Sonora,  and  Lower 
California.  But  whether  or  not  this  belt  of  North  Mexican  states  ever  falls 
into  the  hands  of  the  United  States,  a  knowledge  of  their  history, 
resources,  and  condition  cannot  fail  to  be  of  vital  importance  to  their 
neighbors  over  the  line. 

In  the  northern  border  states  of  Mexico  the  natives  have  not  been 
exterminated;  many  of  them  have  been  taught  to  work,  while  some  are  yet 
wild.  As  most  of  the  early  expeditions  through  this  section  extended  to 
New  Mexico,  Texas,  or  Colorado,  they  are  all  of  interest,  and  belong 
as  well  to  the  history  of  these  southern  United  States,  as  to  that  of  the 
northern  Mexican  states.  Cortes  in  the  gulf  of  California,  Guzman  in 
Sinaloa,  Cabeza  de  Vaca  crossing  the  continent,  Niza  and  Coronado  march 
ing  toward  Cibola,  as  well  as  the  annals  of  the  several  states,  all  have  their 
significance  in  the  history  of  Texas  and  other  contiguous  states. 

The  history  of  Texas  has  not  its  parallel  in  any  of  the  other  states 
of  the  union.  First  a  wilderness;  then  a  province  of  New  Spain,  while  yet  a 
wilderness;  then  an  independent  republic;  and  finally  a  member  of  the 
great  American  confederation  of  states. 

Coahuila  and  Texas  the  country  was  called  when  it  began  to  have  a 
political  name,  the  two  states  being  then  one  province.  Here  as  elsewhere 
the  Franciscans  were  early  in  the  field,  planting  their  missions.  There  was 
rare  wisdom  in  this,  the  missionaries  converting  the  Indians  before  the  sol 
diers  should  come  in  and  kill  them.  To  follow  these  zealous  men  into  the 
strange  and  savage  wilderness,  and  witness  their  devotion  to  their  cause, 
their  patience  under  hardships  and  sufferings,  and  their  indifference  to  death 
is  fraught  with  the  liveliest  interest.  The  French  and  Spanish  expe 
ditions,  the  sorrowful  adventures  of  La  Salle  and  the  wanderings  of  his 
companions  are  also  given  here.  All  this  was  during  the  seventeenth 
century. 

The  eighteenth  century  annals  of  Texas,  or  Nuevas  Filipinas  as  it  was 
once  called,  tell  what  the  Mexicans  did  with  regard  to  their  presidios  and 
missions,  how  the  Indians  behaved,  how  the  Spaniards  were  frightened  by 


Frci.climen,  how  the  missionaries  and  military  were  always  quarrelling,  auJ. 
how  his  majesty  the  king  of  Spain  sent  commissioners  into  the  country,  and 
what  they  saw  there. 

Vol.  II  opens  with  the  coming  of  the  Americans  and  their  settlement 
in  Texas.  This,  Spain  did  not  like,  and  hostilities  followed.  On  the  hi^li 
saas  were  privateering  and  piracy.  The  story  of  Jean  Lafittc,  tlic 
pirate  of  the  gulf,  is  told.  The  empresario  system  and  the  method  of  mak 
ing  land  grants  are  described.  Mexican  oppression  continues,  and  the  idea 
of  separation  is  discussed.  Texas  did  not  achieve  her  independence  without 
a  terrible  struggle,  as  the  siege  of  San  Antonio  de  Bejar  and  the  Alamo  and 
Goliad  massacres  amply  testify.  Every  true  Texan  should  be  familiar 
with  the  best  accounts  of  these  scenes,  sacred  to  his  inherent  rights  and  his 
liberties. 

Victory  at  last  crowns  the  efforts  of  the  Texans.  Santa  Anna  is  humil 
iated,  the  Mexicans  are  defeated,  and  Texas  rises  into  a  republic,  though 
quickly  to  become  a  member  of  the  American  union.  But  this  promising  posi 
tion  she  does  not  long  enjoy  before  civil  war  is  thrust  upon  her,  to  be  followed 
by  a  reign  of  peace  and  prosper1  ty — let  us  hope  that  it  may  last  forever. 

The  story  as  told  in  the  pages  of  this  work  is  full  of  romance,  though 
never  swerving  from  the  boldest  truth.  There  are  some  dark  days  and  dark 
doings,  but  there  are  many  bright  episodes  and  brilliant  achievements. 
There  is  not  the  least  partisanism  in  the  work,  political,  sectional, 
or  religious.  The  author  is  as  free  from  bias  as  any  one  well  can  be.  All 
of  his  writings  amply  testify  to  this. 

These  volumes  are  worth  their  weight  in  gold  for  any  who 
choose  to  avail  themselves  of  the  knowledge  they  contain  regarding  the 
resources  and  undeveloped  wealth  of  the  vast  region  covered  by  them.  The 
soil  of  Texas  can  support  its  many  millions ;  hidden  in  the  mountains  of 
Chihuahua  and  Sonora  are  scores  of  untouched  bonanzas  waiting  to  * 
bo  found  and  developed.  The  region  has  never  yet  been  fairly  pros 
pected,  and  it  is  impossible  to  imagine  what  wonders  and  wealth  it  contains. 

Any  one  inhabiting  the  country  of  which  this  work  treats,  and  failing  to 
secure  a  copy  of  it. for  his  own  use  makes  a  great  mistake,  as  the  practi 
cal  and  useful  knowledge  it  contains  will  enable  him  to  make  the  price  of  it 
a  hundred-fold,  to  say  nothing  about  the  improvement  of  the  mind,  and  the 
benefit  to  others. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL,. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH    -  $4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINE  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  -                                  -     5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALJP- MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -      10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCIJCO,  CAL. 

Texas.     2. 


SPKCINIKN     OPINIONS 

"Pointed  to  with  pride  by  every  American  student." — Cincinnati  Commercial. 

"  It  took  the  world  of  scholars  by  storm,  both  in  Europe  and  America." — Kansas 
City  Journal. 

"The  skill  with  which  material  points  are  made  salient,  and  immaterial  facts  are 
subordinated,  is  worthy  of  high  praise." — Century. 

11  Yvre  can  assur'~i  our  j^atrons  that  the  history  is  good  and  true.  It  concerns  us  every 
way." — Austin  Statesman. 

"A  history  of  Texas  that  will  outlive  all  time." — Cleburne  Chronicle. 

"Cool  Baconian  method." — Houston  Journal. 

"  It  is  a  favorable  circumstance  for  Texas  in  the  historical  view." — GalvestonNews. 

"  We  are  confident  that  every  loyal  and  public-spirited  citizen  will  be  proud  to 
possess  this  book." — Galveston  Sun. 

"His  fame  as  a  historian  has  now  reached  the  confines  of  the  world." — Waco 
Advance. 

"To  the  people  of  Texas  this  work  recommends  itself  with  peculiar  force  and  inter 
est."— Fort  Worth  Gazette. 

"  Ono  is  carried  along  from  the  very  first  page  by  an  impetuosity  which  is  at  once 
charming  and  irresistible.  The  interest  is  immediately  awakened,  the  attention 
promptly  fixed.  There  is  something  in  the  dash  and  flow  which  in  itself  attracts  and 
exciies.  ....  Tlie  present  volumes  are  a  marvel  of  industry  and  hard  work.  The  mate 
rial  collected,  the  authorities  consulted,  the  skill  with  which  all  have  been  collected  and 
arranged,  and  the  attractiveness  of  style  in  which  the  whole  has  been  presented  to  the 
public,  merit  the  highest  praise.  The  narrative  abounds  in  incidents  of  exciting  interest 
and  facts  of  great  importance — social,  historical,  and  political ;  rendering  this  latest 
literary  achievement  of  Mr  Bancroft  a  work  attractive  alike  to  the  general  reader,  the 
historian,  the  statesman,  and  the  sociologist." — London  Morning  Post. 

"He  is  the  Herbert  Spencer  of  historians.  His  diligence  in  collecting  data,  his 
painstaking  in  arrangement,  his  accuracy  of  statement,  as  well  as  the  vastness  of  his 
undertakings,  contribute  to  give  him  a  place  among  historians  similar  to  that  occupied 
by  Mr  Spencer  among  sociologists.  His  style  is  energetic  strong  and  picturesque.  His 
judgments  are  just  ;  his  conclusions  follow  from  the  facts,  and  his  narrative  is  almost 
unvariably  of  unflagging  interest.  Not  only  do  the  American  people  and  the  historical 
student  owe  to  the  author  a  large  debt  of  gratitude  for  this  work,  which  one  not  pos 
sessed  of  enthusiam  and  historical  genius,  as  well  as  patience,  would  never  have  under 
taken,  but  many  governments  of  Europe,  whose  explorers  set  foot  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
should  feel  the  obligations  under  which  they  are  placed." — Boston  Journal. 

"  As  agreeable  and  entertaining  as  it  must  necessarily  prove  instructive." — London 
Academy. 

"The  work  is  thoroughly  that  of  a  man  possessed  of  his  subject." — 6".  F.  Argonaut. 

"  He  is  able  to  realize  the  grand  aspiration  to  which  he  has  devoted  his  life  with  a 
zeal  and  consecration  beyond  all  precedent." — N.  Y.  Herald. 

"  His  profound  insight  of  human  nature  and  his  broad  views,  the  absence  of  bigotry 
and  hero-worship,  command  our  admiration  and  confidence,  while  there  is  a  novelty 
and  strength  in  every  page." — S.  F.  Post. 

"  The  style  is  vigorous  and  often  graphic." — English  Historical  Review. 

"  It  is  because  of  the  clearness  with  which  the  unexpected  and  dramatic  turnings  of 
time's  wheel,  which  so  decisively  brings  its  own  revenge,  are  held  in  view  and  presented, 
together  with  an  elevated  moral  tone  and  a  determination  to  exaggerate  nothing,  that 
we  can  say  of  Mr  Bancroft's  volumes  that  they  are  touched  with  dramatic  penetration 
and  genuis," — British  Quarterly  Review. 

"Mr  Bancroft's  book  is  entitled  to  the  utmost  attention,  not  only  because  of  its 
literary  merits  but  because  of  the  matters  to  which  it  is  devoted." — Boston  Traveller. 

"  A  standard  history  of  our  state  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  our  people." — Me- 
Kinney  Enquirer. 

"  Of  more  thrilling  interest  than  that  of  any  other  state." — San  Antonio  Express. 

"Seldom  has  the  world  produced  a  historian  of  the  highest  eminence  that  has  com 
bined  with  that  genius  these  gifts  of  imagination  and  description  that  are  essential  to 
the  successful  novelist ;  yet  in  his  use  they  are  subordinate  to  fact  and  not  to  fancy. "- 
Boston  Home  Journal. 

"  Texas  has  a  peculiar  and  special  interest  in  this  history.  No  library  in  the  state, 
public  or  private,  will  be  complete  without  it." — Texas  Baptist  and  Herald. 

"Nothing  more  national  or  complete  is  ever  likely  to  be  seen  than  the  history  pro 
jected  and  carried  out  by   Mr  Bancroft,  with  an  enthusiam  as  wonderful  as  it  is  com 
mendable." — Glasgow  Herald. 
Texas.    3. 


"Not  only  unequalled,  but  unapproached.  A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 

HISTORY   OF 

ARIZONA  AND  NEW  MEXICO 

Complete  in  one  volume  8vo,   829  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

The  Charm  of  Mystery  has  ever  hung  over  the  affairs  of  this  region, 
as  being  one  of  the  first  traversed  by  Europeans  northward  from  Mexico,  and 
the  various  reports  concerning  which  were  wonderful,  contradictory,  and 
many  of  them,  as  was  later  learned,  being  exceedingly  mendacious.  It  is 
the  land  of  Mines  and  Mirage,  reported  first  of  fabulous  wealth,  then 
under-rated,  finally  to  become  esteemed  at  its  true  value.  It  is  a  fascinating 
story,  the  conquest,  occupation,  settlement,  and  development  of  the  country, 
and  well  worth  the  perusal  of  anyone.  The  historian's  work  of  gathering, 
investigating,  arranging,  and  writing  has  been  exceedingly  well  done;  like 
all  of  Mr  Bancroft's  efforts  in  this  direction,  it  is  a  model  of  history- 
writing.  A  glance  at  the  authorities  will  show  how  largely  they  run  to 
original  manuscripts,  which  is  proof  that  the  work  is  based  on  material 
largely  fresh  and  nowhere  else  existing. 

The  book  opens  with  a  masterly  dissertation  on  the  country  as  it 
was  before  the  Spaniards  molested  it.  The  aborigines  were  a  most  remark 
able  people,  living  in  community  pueblos  or  towns,  and  doing  something  in 
the  way  of  agriculture  and  manufactures.  Many  have  held  ideas  and  theories 
that  the  Aztecs  were  once  here,  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  kind.  A 
negro  and  a  priest,  African  and  European,  were  the  first  foreigners  to  enter 
this  region  of  whom  we  have  any  record.  Their  tale  of  the  Seven  Cities,  and 
other  wonderful  reports  of  things  which  they  saw  and  did,  caused  great  ex 
citement  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  thereupon  Coronado's  Grand  Expedition 
was  fitted  out.  This  of  itself  constitutes  a  brilliant  romance.  Then 
accounts  of  other  expeditions  are  given  with  Onate's  conquest,  and  the  annals 
of  eighty  years'  rule  of  the  country.  In  due  time  Santa  Fe  was  founded,  the 
natives  converted,  or  to  some  extent  considered  so,  though  not  unattended  by 
revolts  and  massacres,  with  breathing  spells  of  peace.  Altogether  the 
Mexicans  had  a  hard  time  of  it  for  the  first  century,  and  even  after  a  century 
and  a  half  they  had  to  conquer  the  country  anew.  The  pueblo-dwellers  were 
hard  to  kill  off,  and  they  abandoned  their  ancient  rites  with  reluctance. 
Indeed,  many  of  them  hold  to  their  aboriginal  customs  to  this  day.  There 
was  a  great  difference  in  the  several  Mexican  governors,  in  their  ability, 
morality  and  policy,  and  it  is  an  interesting  study  to  follow  them  in  their 
careers,  and  compare  one  with  another.  So  with  regard  to  the  friars;  they 
were  many  of  them  pronounced  characters,  and  took  good  care  that  the 
ecclesiastical  arm  should  be  as  palpably  felt  as  the  secular  arm.  Indeed,  the 
friars,  as  explorers  and  missionaries,  were  very  prominent  in  early  Arizonan 
and  New  Mexican  affairs. 

The  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  presented  in  Chapter  XII,  and 
the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century  in  the  following  chapter.  As  the 
natives  were  so  well  advanced  in  a  state  of  semi-civilization,  they  took  more 
kindly  to  industrial  pursuits  than  the  wild  savages.  Some  of  their  work 
before  they  were  taught  at  all  by  foreigners  was  admirable. 


Next  we  come  to  the  inroads  from  the  United  States,  which  were 
regarded  with  a  very  jealous  eye  by  Mexico.  Lieut.  Pike,  with  a  small 
body  of  United  States  infantry,  wandering  about  this  region,  and,  overstep 
ping  the  line  into  Mexican  territory,  hardly  knowing  where  he  was,  soon 
found  himself  a  prisoner  at  Chihuahua,  and  from  which  unpleasant 
position  he  was  not  extricated  without  some  difficulty. 

In  the  next  chapter  is  given  an  account  of  the  rulers  for  the  following 
period,  and  also  the  revolution  of  1837-8.  It  was  a  highly  romantic  traffic, 
the  commerce  of  the  prairies  along  the  old  Santa  Fe  trail,  and  elsewhere  in  those 
days — shopkeeping  in  the  wilderness,  the  exchange  of  the  benefits  and 
curses  of  civilization  for  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  or  whatever  else  there  was 
which  could  be  picked  up  from  the  spontaneous  products  of  nature.  But  in 
due  time  mines  were  discovered,  which  introduced  new  features  into  the 
traffic  of  the  times.  No  doubt  there  are  many  rich  mines  yet  to  be  discovered. 
The  country  in  some  places  has  hardly  been  prospected  yet.  A  careful 
perusal  of  these  pages,  which  give  the  configuration  of  the  country,  as  well 
as  accounts  of  such  discoveries  and  developments  as  have  hitherto  been 
made,  might  lead  on  further  examination  of  the  mining  districts 
to  the  most  startling  disclosures.  So  with  agricultural  and  other 
developments.  Information  regarding  stock-raisfng,  railroads, 
the  distribution  of  mines,  the  products  of  gold  and  silver  is  most  important 
to  every  business  man,  while  he  who  pretends  to  ordinary  intelligence  must 
possess  and  read  the  history  of  the  country  in  which  he  makes  his  home. 
There  are  a  thousand  features  of  interest  and  sterling  value  about 
this  book  which  we  cannot  enumerate.  Every  page  is  full  of  interesting 
information  which  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  the  country. 

Arizona  and  New  Mexico  are  but  just  in  their  infancy.  Starting 
afresh  in  a  career  of  unexampled  prosperity  and  progress,  with  such  a 
magnificent  volume  as  this  for  the  beginning  and  foundation  of  their 
history,  what  may  not  be  accomplished  in  this  direction  in  future  ages! 
Historical  societies  should  be  formed  at  every  important 'point,  and  the 
history  of  our  own  state  or  territory  made  a  study  in  the  schools.  At  the 
very  least  every  school  library,  every  family,  every  business  man — all  who 
have  any  stake  in  the  country  or  are  interested  in  its  advancement  should 
patronize  and  possess  this  work. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  voi,. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  -     7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -      10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

Ariz,  and  N.  M.  2.  gAN     pRANClSCO, 


SPKCIN1KN    OPINIONS 

"  His  is  in  many  respects  the  uncompromising  spirit  of  Carlyle,  of  whose  style 
occasional  glimpses  appear." — Sacramento  Record- Union. 

'f  There  i ;  no  question  of  the  care  taken  to  ascertain  facts,  of  the  thoroughness  with 
which  the  work  is  prosecuted,  or  of  its  value  when  completed." — Chicago  Times. 

"  lie  is  conscientious  and  sagacious  in  his  balancing  of  authorities." — 5.  F.  Post. 

"  While  graphic  like  Tacitus,  he  avoids  the  formality  of  Gibbon/' — Ter.  Enterprise. 

"  No  historian  has  more  faithfully  painted  his  heroes,  both  in  light  and  shade,  than 
Mr  Bancroft.  In  this  he  shows  the  rarest  power  ;  for  he  preserves  relations,  and  makes 
the  mere  marked  traits  in  the  one  emphasize  and  relieve  the  contrasted  traits  in  the 
other." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

"  The  book  is  rich  in  research,  and  tells  the  whole  story  as  the  conscientious  histo 
rian  found  it  after  the  most  painstaking  investigation." — Las  Vegas  Gazette. 

"  A  much  needed  contribution  to  historic  literature." — Tombstone  Record. 

"The  narrative  abounds  in  incidents  of  exciting  interest  and  facts  of  great  impor 
tance,  social,  historical,  and  political."— London  Morning  Post. 

"  The  narrative,  while  never  sacrificing  photographic  exactness  to  vivid  coloring, 
or  cold  fact  to  brilliancy,  is  of  absorbing  interest." — Syracuse  Herald. 

"  Competent  critics  in  America  and  Europe  speak  cf  Mr  Bancroft's  works  in  terms 
of  the  highest  praise." — Santa  Fe  New  Mexican. 

"  Such  disinterested  and  unparalleled  service  in  the  cause  of  letters  should  prove  a 
source  of  pride  to  any  community." — Galveston  News. 

"  Most  exhaustive  and  interesting." — Victoria  Advocate. 

"In  certain  respects  the  most  important  work  ever  done.." — fioston  Journal. 

11  One  of  the  greatest  literary  undertakings  ever  planned." — N.  Y.  Times. 

11  His  story  is  exhaustive,  comprehensive,  reliable,  satisfying." — .S*.  F.  Wasp. 

"  The  only  standard  authority  for  the  ground  covered." — Philadelphia  Times. 

11  Never,  I  am  sure,  was  a  great  literary  enterprise  undertaken  with  such  prodigal 
and  comprehensive  auxiliaries." — E.  B.  Haskell,  Editor  Boston  Herald. 

"  Your  work  is  well  done,  and  it  will  be  to  you  a  monument  far  more  honorable 
and  more  enduring  than  could  be  constructed  by  the  hand  of  art." — Waymire. 

" Remarkable  for  deep  research,  conscientious  and  painstaking  handling  of  details, 
and  for  grace  of  style." — Los  Angeles  Times. 

"  This  is  a  most  stupendous  undertaking :  but  Mr  Bancroft  seems  to  be  adequately 
equipped  for  it,  as  well  in  the  material  he  has  brought  together  as  in  the  intelligence, 
industry,  and  enthusiasm  with  which  he  prosecutes  his  work." — Washington  Star. 

"  Of  the  thoroughness  of  his  research,  the  indefatigableness  of  his  spirit,  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  temper,  the  honesty  of  his  mind,  the  independence  and  candor  of  his 
judgment,  there  can  be  no  question." — Literary  World. 

"This  work  is  thoroughly  that  of  a  man  possessed  of  his  subject,  anxious  to  read  it 
in  all  its  lights,  to  search  out  its  sources,  and  trace  its  bearings." — Albany  Times. 

"  As  Bacon  took  the  co-ordination  of  all  knowledge  for  his  province,  so  Mr  Hubert 
H.  Bancroft  has  taken  the  co-ordination  of  all  western  North  American  history  for  the 
task-book  of  his  literary  ambition.  His  Native  Races  commanded  for  its  author  the 
highest  applause  in  mouths  of  wisest  censure  and  it  will  ever  remain  as  a  monument  to 
the  writer's  intelligence  and  industry.'' — New  York  Herald. 
Ariz,  and  N.  M.  3. 


Not  o-ily  unequalled,  but  unapproached.    A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generpuw 
ath y  and  support  has  never  been  undertaking  011  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 


i  <  .apathy  an 


HISTORY    OF    CALIFORNIA 

In  7  Vols.,  8vo.,  5,665  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 


It  was  the  custom  of  Spanish  navigators  to  cloud  their  discoveries  in 
romantic  mysteries,  in  other  words  to  tell  the  most  egregious  falsehoods. 
The  author  first  of  all  clears  away  the  fog  enveloping  his  subject,  still 
romantic  enough  in  the  all  its  naked  charms. 

One  of  the  Northern  Mysteries  was  an  imaginary  strait,  called 
Anian,  passing  through  the  continent  fom  ocean  to  ocean  somewhere  in  the 
latitude  of  Oregon  or  British  Columbia.  Several  testified  that  they  had  seen 
this  strait,  and  one  man,  not  to  be  behind  his  fellow-navigators,  swore  he  had 
sailed  through  it. 

The  planting  of  the  line  of  missions  from  San  Diego  to  San  Fran 
cisco  bay  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  achievements  of  proselytism.  It 
is  fully  related  here,  and  for  the  first  time,  how  a  few  priests  and  soldiers  so 
utilized  the  natives  as  to  build  these  structures,  plant  fields,  and  cover  the 
hills  with  flocks  and  herds. 

All  this  time  England  and  France  cast  glances  hitherward,  while  Russia 
planted  a  hunting-post  at  Bodega  bay.  The  coming  and  going  of  the  Rus 
sians  form  an  interesting  episode  of  this  period. 

Vol.  Ill  opens  with  California  as  a  territory  of  the  Mexican  republic, 
having  been  before  this  a  province  of  Spain.  Hence  there  is  more  politics,  a 
constitution,  and  elections.  For  a  brief  period  it  was  a  kind  of  penal  colony, 
but  the  people  were  so  exasperated  that  Mexico  had  to  cease  sending  her 
convicts. 

Besides  mission  annals,  traffic,  maritime  affairs,  vol.  iv  tells 
of  the  establishment  of  Sutler's  Fort  and  the  settlement  of  the  Sacramento 
valley.  Many  notable  visitors  were  on  the  coast  about  this  time,  and  what 
they  reported  as  having  seen  lends  a  vivid  charm  to  the  narrative.  More  than 
one  of  the  great  powers  of  the  world  stood  ready  to  pounce  on  California  upon 
the  slightest  pretext,  and  the  United  States  government  was  determined  it 
should  not  be  France  or  England.  So  zealous  was  Commodore  Jones  that  he 
siezed  Monterey  prematurely,  and  was  obliged  to  make  restoration. 

Vol.  v  comprises  the  period  just  prior  to  the  discovery  of  gold,  and 
is  full  of  exciting  scenes.  Fremont  marches  into  the  field,  and  presently  we 
have  a  settler's  revolt  and  the  Bear  Flag  war.  A  great  commotion  is  raised, 
and  after  a  brief  struggle,  and  the  usual  bickerings  of  officers  and  offici'als,  the 
conquest  of  California  is  achieved.  We  have  also  in  this  volume 
graphically  presented  accounts  of  Stockton's  doings;  the  attitudes  of  Pico, 
Castro,  Alvarado,  Vallejo,  and  other  prominent  Californians;  arrivals  of  the 
Mormon  battalion  and  the  New  York  volunteers;  also,  overland  immigration, 
including  the  horrible  sufferings  of  the  Donner  party. 


Iii  the  sixth  volume  we  come  to  the  great  event  of  the  century,  the 
discovery  of  gold  in  California,  which  event  happened  almost  simul 
taneously  with  the  acquisition  of  the  country,  and  the  appearance  of  the  first 
American  steamer  in  Pacific  waters. 

After  presenting  in  the  first  chapter  a  picture  of  the  valley  of  California 
just  at  the  moment  the  Sierra  was  whispering  her  secret,  the  startling 
incidents  attending  Marshall's  mill-buildidg  are  told  ;  also  the  finding  of  the 
yellow  metal,  the  futile  attempt  to  keep  the  discovery  a  secret,  the  effect  of  the 
discovery,  near  and  far,  doings  at  the  mines;  the  evolution  of  new  phases  of 
society,  such  as  the  world  had  never  before  seen.  Then  the  journeys  from 
various  parts  by  sea  and  land  in  order  to  reach  this  favored  spot  are  described; 
the  new  society  engendered  by  these  strange  conditions;  the 
anatomy  of  the  mines;  mining  methods;  birth  of  towns  and  building 
of  cities;  with  the  full  political  history,  tales  of  the  filibusters,  and  the  arbi 
trary  action  of  popular  tribunals — all  these  are  delineated  with  an  accuracy 
and  force  not  excelled  by  any  of  the  world's  writers  of  history. 

The  seventh  volume  of  this  remarkable  work  brings  down  to  the 
present  time  the  political  and  industrial  affairs,  leaving  the  country  in  the  full 
bloom  of  prosperity,  second  to  no  other  part  of  the  world. 

It  is  the  story  of  a  more  wondrous  trasformations  from  wilderness  to  garden 
within  a  single  generation  than  the  world  has  ever  before  witnessed.  "What 
information  is  here!  What  thrilling  interest!  What  lessons! 

He  who  takes  no  interest  in  the  history  of  California,  who  does  not  allow 
his  mind  to  dwell  upon  its  past  with  affection  and  its  possibilities  with  pride, 
or  whose  heart  does  not  swell  with  enthusiasm  as  he  considers  what  he  has 
done  and  what  his  children  may  yet  accomplish,  is  no  true  Californian. 

As  ajar  historical  achievement  the  writing  of  this  history  has  not  its 
equal  in  the  annals  of  literature.  Half  a  million  of  dollars  had  first 
to  be  spent  in  gathering  the  material,  three-fourths  of  which  was  created  out 
of  the  minds  of  living  men.  Then  of  the  labor  bestowed  on  it,  no  one  can 
imagine  it. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.     Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 

it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL. 
BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4 .50 

BOUND  IN  FINE  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  -  55° 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  -  -     7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -  -    10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAT.. 

Hist.  Cal..  2. 


OPINIONS 

"The  most  colossal  literary  achievement  of  the  nineteenth  century." — London 
Academy. 

"The  richest  collection  of  historical  works  that  has  ever  been  made." — Otegonian. 
"A  most  remarkable  and  instructive  work." — London  Morning  Post. 

"In  him  is  united  complete  mastery  of  his  subjects  with  rapidity  of  workmanship 
quite  unparalleled." — Sacramento  Re  cord- Union. 

"We  are  glad  that  California,  which  has  made  the  world  wealthy  in  gold,  has  so 
quickly  begun  to  enrich  it  with  enduring  books." — San  Francisco  bulletin. 

"The  events  here  related  which  have  special  interest  for  the  general  reader  are  the 
downfall  of  the  catholic  missions,  and  the  overland  journeys  of  hunters  and  trappers." — 
New  York  Sun. 

"Most  exhausting,  and  at  the  same  time  intensely  Interesting." — San  Bernardino 
Times. 

"From  these  volumes  must  be  drawn  hereafter  the  only  trustworthy  history  of  these 
parts." — Century. 

"Rich  in  facts,  which  are  the  essence  of  history." — Houston  Post. 

"The  style  is  good,  and  the  pages  fairly  glisten  with  incidents." — Pittsburg 
Telegraph. 

"Its  magnitude  and  the  immense  researches  it  manifested,  together  with  the  just 
treatment  of  authorities,  crisp  vigorous  style,  and  above  all  modesty  of  the  author,  won 
him  golden  opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people  of  the  literary  and  scientific  world." — 
Galveston  News 

"No  Californian,  who  can  afford  it,  with  a  grain  of  local  pride  will  exclude  this 
great  work  from  his  library." — San  Jose.  Mercury. 

'•  Where  resident  Californians  will  read  with  wondering  absorption  the  quaint 
descriptions  of  the  first  exploration  of  Alameda,  or  of  the  discovery  of  Suisun  bay, 
others  will  follow  the  struggles  of  the  pioneer  priests  and  soldiers  to  effect  their  settle 
ments,  and  the  gradual  development  of  political  and  social  institutions. — San  Francisco 
Argonaut. 

"The  work  is  of  peculiar  interest  to  all  resident  Californians.  It  is  like  a  mirror  of 
the  past  held  up  to  our  \iew  reflecting  on  its  surface  the  grand  panorama  of  changes  as 
they  transpire." — Los  Angeles  Times. 

"Entitled  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  his  countrymen." — Santa  Ana  Standard. 

"Replete  with  novelty  of  incident  and  powerful  dramatic  intensity  of  life." — Boston 
Post. 

"To  understand  American  California  there  must  be  a  knowledge  of  native,  Spanish, 
and  Mexican  California.  No  one  has  appreciated  this  fact  more  fully  than  Mr  Bancroft, 
and  because  he  has  appreciated  it,  it  is  difficult  to  overestimate  the  importance  and  value 
of  the  work  he  has  performed,  and  the  results  of  which  appear  especially  in  the  volumes 
which  give  California's  history  prior  to  its  conquest  by  the  Uuited  States.  The  manifest 
future  and  destiny  of  California  increases  the  interest  that  must  be' felt  in  her  past,  and 
Mr  Bancroft's  volumes  will  increase  in  value  as  the  years  go  by." — Boston  Traveller. 

'•'Nothing,  perhaps,  has  so  well  demonstrated  the  value  of  Mr  Bancroft's  judgment 
in  historical  matters  as  the  brief  biographies  of  famous  early  Californians.  And  after 
the  mass  of  romance  and  legend  that  has  been  written  about  the  coming  of  the  argo 
nauts,  it  is  refreshing  to  read  his  clear,  impartial,  and  masterly  summing  up  of  the 
events  that  followed  the  gold  discovery." — San  Francisco  Chroniele. 

"I  take  pleasure  in  calling  your  attention  to  Mr  Hubert  H.  Bancroft's  'History  of 
the  Pacific  Slates.'  The  volumes  already  issued,  as  indeed  the  greater  part  of  the  work, 
treat  of  times  and  events  of  great  interest  to  the  catholic  world.  I  am  assured  that  five 
out  of  the  seven  volumes  on  California  will  be  devoted  to  the  history  of  the  country 
under  missionary  regime,  nine-tenths  of  which  has  never  appeared  in  print,  bein^ 
drawn  from  government  and  archiepiscopal  archives,  and  from  private  and  wholly 
original  sources.  The  histories  of  Central  America  and  Mexico  are  altogether  of  catholic 
countries,  societies,  and  institutions.  It  has  been  carefully  noted  in  the  volumes  already 
in  print  that  the  distinguished  author  has  treated  all  subjects  bearing  on  church  history 
or  religion  with  both  great  ability  and  candor,  which  guarantees  the  assurance  that  as  a 
'History  of  the  Pacific  States 'it  will  compare  favorably  with  the  best  literary  prpductions 
of  the  kind.  I  intend  to  enrich  my  diocesan  library  with  this  interesting  work,  as  I 
should  deem  it  incomplete  without  it." — ~\J.  S.  Alemany ,  A.  S.  F. 

CAI,   3 


"  Not  only  unequalled,  but   unapproached.     A  literary  enterprise   more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  hasneverbeen  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic."— Worth  American  Review. 

History  of  Nevada,  Colorado, 
and  Wyoming 

Complete  in  i  vol.,  8vo. ,  825  pages,  with  Sectional  Plans 

By  HUBERT  HOWE   BANCROFT 

We  have  grouped  here  our  Silver  States,  with  the  great  ranges  of 
Wyoming  between,  constituting  a  section  of  country  of  remarkable 
interest.  The  volume  opens  with  a  vivid  description  of  the  Great  Basin, 
once  regarded  so  worthless,  but  later,  found  to  be  full  of  natural  wealth. 
The  configuration  and  climate  are  both  peculiar,  and  the  whole  region  is 
full  of  wonders,  which  are  here  clearly  and  accurately  described.  The 
geology  and  mountain  systems  are  likewise  given,  with  the  lake  and  river 
systems,  springs  and  deserts,  with  plants,  animals,  and  minerals. 

The  earliest  expeditions  were  not  made  as  to  an  objective  point,  but 
were  a  passing  through  of  fur-hunters  and  emigrants.  And  what  they  saw 
and  did  there  groping  their  way  over  sandy  wastes  and  along  winding 
streams,  all  as  strange  to  them  as  if  they  were  journeying  about  in  the 
moon,  is  of  intense  interest  to  us  who  can  traverse  the  whole  country 
in  luxurious  railway  coaches  in  a  day.  Ogden,  and  Walker,  and  Carson 
were  among  the  early  fur-hunters  whose  names  have  been  rendered  perpet 
ual,  while  Smith,  Belden,  and  Bidwell  were  more  direct  travellers. 

The  first  wagons  that  passed  down  the  Humboldt  found  a  rough 
trail,  and  had  to  be  abandoned.  But  before  long  various  routes  were  found 
into  both  California  and  Oregon.  Those  were  the  days  of  privation  and 
suffering  for  the  incoming  builders  of  empire,  and  here  where  water  and 
food  were  often  scarce,  or  impossible  to  obtain,  many  a  tragedy  has  been 
performed. 

The  Mormons  were  among  the  first  settlers  in  Nevada;  but  others 
soon  came  and,  establishing  themselves  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  Sierra, 
opened  a  profitable  traffic  with  California-bound  emigrants.  Mines  were 
then  discovered,  the  deposits  increasing  in  size  and  richness  until  a  moun 
tain  of  metal  was  given  to  the  world.  The  description  of  the  Comstock 
Lode  and  the  incidents  attending  its  development  are  as  fascinating  as 
anything  in  the  Arabian  Nights. 

Everything  relating  to  the  progress  of  the  county  is  fully  and  faith 
fully  given,  political,  industrial,  and  social.  Then  the  State  is  taken  up  in 
counties,  and  described  in  yet  minuter  detail. 

Then  we  come  to  the  magnificent  State  of  Colorado,  whose 
rise  and  progress  is  ever  a  theme  of  pleasing  interest.  What  a  marvel 
was  the  building  and  peopling  of  Denver,  Colorado  Springs,  Leadville,  and 
the  other  towns  and  cities  in  which  this  State  abounds.  Mr.  Bancroft  was 
simply  fascinated  with  the  country  and  the  people,  as  may  be  seen  on  every 
page  of  this  matchless  volume. 

The  mountain  and  park  systems  are  graphically  described;  and  indeed 
the  physical  features  of  Colorado  are  nowhere  else  so  correctly  deline 
ated.  And  as  to  discovery  and  occupation,  the  most  interesting  stories  and 
information  about  the  first  comers  are  here  given,  and  many  hitherto  puzzling 
problems  solved. 


Gold  is  in  due  time  discovered,  when,  under  its  impulse,  affairs 
take  a  leap  forward,  though  thousands  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 
There  was  no  small  strife  regarding  the  location  of  towns,  as  the  history  of 
Denver  shows,  but  the  question  of  location  once  settled,  and  the  people 
built  royally. 

Between  the  Indian  and  the  civil  wars  there  was  some  hard  fighting 
done  in  Colorado,  of  which  there  is  unquestionably  in  this  volume  the 
finest  and  most  truthful  description.  Opinion  is  divided  to  this  day  regard 
ing  the  Sand  Creek  affair.  The  description  of  that  thrilling  event  given  in 
this  volume  was  written  by  Mr.  Bancroft  from  statements  made  to  him  in 
person  by  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  action.  In  fact  the  volume  is 
crowded  with  information  of  the  most  useful  and  valuable  kind,  the  dis 
covery  and  development  of  mines,  mining  processes,  agriculture,  stock- 
raising,  government  and  society,  and  manufacturing.  Colorado  is  destined 
to  be  a  great  manufacturing  State. 

Wyoming  came  blooming  into  civilization  like  a  flower  in  the  wilder 
ness.  Almost  before  the  world  was  aware  of  it  there  was  a  full-fledged 
commonwealth,  with  all  the  adjuncts  of  good  government  and  high  culture. 
Beautiful  homes  with  refined  and  intelligent  occupants  and  embowered  in 
gardens  are  seen  on  every  side.  Wyoming  is  truly  a  wonder-land,  no 
less  in  regard  to  scenery  than  to  the  people  and  their  wealth. 

In  the  early  history  were  many  interesting  scenes.  Gold-hunting 
followed  fur-hunting,  and  settlement  followed  gold-hunting.  There  is  always 
something  absorbing  in  following  the  prospectors  and  gold-diggers  in  their 
adventures,  and  seeing  what  they  find. 

The  wars  with  the  natives  are  described,  and  the  progress  of 
politics  and  society  fully  set  forth.  Of  special '  interest  is  the  grazing  and 
cattle  industry.  The  questions  of  land  and  water,  which  are  of  such 
vital  interest  to  the  great  cattlemen,  are  presented  fairly,  and  in  all  con 
nected  with  the  occupation  and  development  of  the  country  the  utmost  care 
and  discrimination  as  to  the  elucidation  of  facts  are  apparent. 

No  intelligent  person  inhabiting  this  country,  or  living  anywhere  and 
wishing  to  know  all  about  it  will  fail  to  purchase  and  study  this  book. 
Like  all  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  volumes  it  is  worth  a  hundred  times  its  cost. 
The  author  examined  in  person  many  times  this  whole  country,  examining 
its  features,  and  learning  to  know  the  people  and  the  probabilities. 

Situated  in  mid-continent,  with  abundance  of  metal  and  minerals, 
agricultural  facilities  sufficient  to  support  a  large  population,  having  at  hand 
the  men  and  material  for  railroads  and  manufactories,  a  great  future  is  in 
store  for  this  section. 

Read  carefully  this  most  interesting  book  ;  compare  the  resources 
and  development  of  one  section  with  another,  and  then  translate  the  future 
by  the  light  of  the  past. 

CONDITIONS. — The  volume  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and 
neatly  and  substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the 
work  unless  it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Hist,  of  Nev.  Col.  &  Wyo.    2 


SPKCIIVLKN    OPINIONS 

"  We  believe  the  people  of  Colorado  take  a  right  view  of  this  enterprise,  which 
concerns  them  very  nearly." — Canon  City  Mercury. 

"  It  is  a  pleasure  to  know  thai  so  many  people  in  the  State  appreciate  and  realize 
the  value  of  this  great  undertaking." — Pueblo  Chieftain. 

"Straightforward  and  candid,  dealing  always  in  facts." — Carson  Appeal. 

"  Full  of  brilliant  description,  refined  analyses,  and  careful  discrimination  of  the 
lights  and  shades  in  very  contrasted  characters." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

"  A  masterly  historical  work." — Albany  Journal. 

"  It  should  be  a  pride  and  pleasure  to  aid  this  work." — Elko  Free  Press 

"Will  take  its  place  with  the  best  histories  ever  written." — Galveston  News. 

"  To  us  it  is  a  source  of  lasting  gratification  and  advantage." — Leadville  Herald. 

"  Under  the  author's  rapid  and  vigorous  handling  the  colorings  disclosed  in  this 
process  are  brilliant  and  rich,  the  movement  of  his  figures  spirited  and  often  startling." 
— Kansas  City  Journal. 

"We  of  Colorado  may  congratulate  ourselves  upon  this  work." — Greeley  Tribune. 

"Full  of  living  interest." — Laramie  Sentinel. 

"Graphic,  classic,  and  true." — Denver  Tribune -Republican. 

"A  vast  amount  of  curious  and  interesting  information." — Denver  News. 

"  This  work  has  a  peculiar  interest  to  those  who  live  here.  It  is  considered  an  act 
of  patriotism  to  subscribe  to  it." — Colorado  Springs  Gazette. 

"  It  places  a  standard  and  reliable  description  of  our  country  and  resources  before 
the  readers,  not  only  of  America,  bnt  of  the  world." — Boulder  Herald. 

"  He  is  contributing  to  the  intelligence  of  the  world,  and  is  doing  a  work  that  will 
not  be  lost  when  he  is  gone,  but  will,  by  coming  generations,  be  prized  more  highly  than 
is  possible  by  us." — Sacramento  Record-Union. 

"The  style  is  vivid  and  truthful  as  expressive  of  the  idea.  Much  of  it  touches  a 
high  eloquence.  Pictures  stand  out  sometimes  each  from  a  felicitous  word." — 5.  F. 
Bulletin. 

"  One  of  the  most  learned  and  industrious  of  historians." — London  Academy. 

"A  model  of  historical  writing." — S.  F.  Argonaut. 

"  There  is  romance  enough  in  this  volume,  but  it  is  not  the  romance  of  imagina 
tion  or  fiction  ;  it  is  the  romance  of  hard,  honest  fact." — New  York  Times. 

"  Never  in  the  world's  history  were  enthusiasm,  indefatigable  labor  of  research,  and 
discrimination  in  the  use  of  the  wonderfully  vast  amount  of  material  collected  at  home 
and  from  the  archives  of  different  nations,  more  admirably  blended  than  they  are  in  the 
historical  work  of  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft." — Boston  Home  Journal. 

"  No  equal  in  the  extent  of  his  undertakings,  the  thoroughness  of  his  research,  the 
energetic,  strong,  and  captivating  style  of  his  writings,  as  well  as  his  candor  of  judgment 
and  accuracy  of  statement." — Mercury. 

"  In  the  line  of  historical  research  his  great  work  has  few  parallels." — Boston 
Traveller. 

"  It  takes  rank  with  the  very  best  of  modern  historical  works,  with  points  of  supe 
riority  to  nearly  all  of  them." — Chicago  Times. 

"  As  fascinating  as  a  romance." — Troy  Times. 

"It  is  a  production  of  almost  incredible  labor,  of  excellent  arrangement,  and 
admirable  execution,  everywhere  betraying  the  union  of  quiet  enthusiasm  and  sound 
judgment  which  have  been  exercised  iti  its  preparation." — George  Ripley. 

"  Of  surpassing  interest,  and  of  a  value  great  and  constantly  increasing." — Hartford 
Courant. 

"  Interests  readers  of  every  class." — Christian   Union. 

"  A  very  valuable  addition  to  the  history  of  the  American  continent." — Boston 
Advertiser. 

"  A  monument  that  will  cause  his  name  to  be  remembered  ages  after  he  has  ceased 
to  be  in  the  flesh."—  The  Guardian. 
Nev.  and  Colo.  3 


"Not  only  unequalled,   bnt  unapproached.     A  literary  enterprise   more   deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Revie.iv. 

HISTORY  OF  UTAH 

Complete  in  one  volume,  8vo,  855  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

Utah  has  a  history  unique  and  individual  There  is  nothing  like 
it  in  the  annals  of  the  race.  There  have  been  migrations  and  coloniza 
tion  for  gold  and  glory,  for  lands  and  slaves,  for  the  skins  of  beasts  and  the 
souls  of  men  ;  the  exodus  of  Israel  was  a  fleeing  from  taskmasters  ;  the  Pil 
grim  fathers  crossed  the  sea  for  their  faith;  but  in  vain  do  we  look  for  another 
instance  in  the  history  of  the  world  where  men  and  women  enough  to  found 
a  state  or  organize  a  nation  have  been  driven  from  their  homes  by 
their  fellow-citizens  on  account  of  their  unity  and  polity  in  social  and 
political  customs  and  religious  belief;  and  this  not  only  once  but  twice,  and 
thrice  ;  and  after  having  finally  taken  refuge  in  a  distant  wilderness,  to  have 
been  overtaken  there  by  westward  marching  civilization  apparently  more 
determined  than  ever  on  their  extermination. 

Where  so  much  prejudice  and  bitterness  existed  on  both  sides,  it  was  of 
primary  importance  for  the  historian  whose  work  should  be  of  any  value  to 
divest  himself  of  all  partisanship  ;  to  judge  motives  less  than  record  results, 
and  to  determine  temporal  rather  than  spiritual  matters.  The  author  fully 
realized  the  fact  that  in  this  way  he  would  secure  the  fewest  friends  and  make 
the  most  enemies  for  his  work  on  both  sides;  for  where  the  feelings  are  highly 
wrought  up  men  do  not  like  to  hear  any  but  their  own  side  of  a  story.  But 
fortunately  for  history  this  author  cares  more  for  truth  and  equity 
than  for  popularity. 

It  seemed  to  him  that,  in  history,  Utah  should  be  treated  like  any  other 
section  covered  by  his  work,  and  the  Mormons  like  any  other  sect  or  people. 
So  he  has  told  his  story  in  the  usual  way,  without  subservience  to  any,  but 
with  the  kindest  feelings  toward  all. 

In  the  first  chapter  is  delineated  the  discoveries  of  the  Spaniards  in  this 
direction,  the  military  expeditions  and  the  journeys  of  the  missionaries;  then 
came  trappers  and  travellers,  who  discovered  the  great  lakes,  built  forts,  and 
traversed  the  region  in  various  directions,  thus  familiarizing  themselves  with 
the  configuration  of  the  country  and  ascertaining  the  best  routes  from  one 
part  to  another. 

Then  is  told  the  story  of  Mormonism,  how  Joseph  Smith  arose,  and 
strange  beliefs  were  evolved  ;  how  the  Book  of  Mormon  appeared,  and  how 
the  new  sect  was  reviled  and  persecuted;  how  from  this  book  and  the  Hebrew 
scriptures  was  created  a  new  theocracy,  with  priests,  elders,  and  apostles,  and 
with  faith  in  revelations,  prophecy,  and  miracles  ;  how  the  saints  were 
driven  from  New  York  to  Ohio,  from  Ohio  to  Missouri,  and  from 
Missouri  to  Illinois  ;  how  they  built  the  city  of  Nauvoo  with  its  temple  and 


university,  established  the  Nauvoo  Neighbor,  and  organized  the  Nauvoo 
legion  ;  how  the  prophet  was  assassinated  at  Carthage,  and  how  arose 
and  was  settled  the  question  of  succession  ;  how  Brigham  Young  came  to  the 
front  and  was  made  chief  of  the  twelve  apostles  and  president  of  the  church  ; 
how  the  expulsion  from  Nauvoo  came  about,  and  Brother  Sam  Bran  nan's 
cool  proposal ;  how  they  all  finally  got  started  on  their  long  migration  to 
Utah,  and  how  they  wintered  on  the  Missouri  ;  how  the  march  was  made 
across  the  continent,  and  all  about  the  entry  into  the  valley  of  the  Great 
Salt  Lake,  and  what  they  did  there. 

Then  come  the  occupation  and  settlement  of  the  country;  the  establishing 
of  boundaries,  the  creation  of  counties,  and  the  building  of  towns  and  cities. 
Lands  for  agricultural  purposes  were  partitioned,  and  town  lots  distributed. 
Society  and  government  were  already  defined  by  ecclesiastical  arrangement ; 
education  had  prompt  attention,  and  manufactories  were  established. 

It  was  a  dry  and  desert  country,  for  the  most  part,  and  the  conditions  of 
life  and  progress  were  not  in  every  respect  the  most  pleasing;  but  it  was  the 
best  they  could  do;  since  the  discovery  of  gold  it  would  not  be  safe  to  live 
in  California,  while  to  direct  their  course  to  Mexico,  as  was  once  thought  of, 
was  impracticable. 

So  they  all  worked  away  with  a  will ;  it  was  a  poor  place  for  a  lazy 
person  ;  while  religious  brotherhood  and  business  cooperation  brought  home 
to  them  the  fullest  returns,  and  amply  compensated  for  the  customary  tithes 
to  the  church. 

After  this  is  explained,  among  other  things,  the  tenets  of  the  church, 
what  Mormonism  really  is,  in  regard  as  well  to  religious  organization 
and  routine  as  to  the  belief  and  the  true  theory  of  polygamy  and  celestial 
marriages. 

The  erection  of  Utah  into  a  territory  of  the  United  States  was  followed 
by  a  military  invasion  which  accomplished  little. 

The  Mountain  Meadow  massacre  forms  a  thrilling  chapter  of 
the  time.  Then  follow  chapters  on  the  progress  of  events,  political,  social, 
and  institutional,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  death  of  Brigham  Young  marks 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Utah. 

It  is  a  work  of  most  masterly  execution,  of  the  highest  interest  and 
importance,  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  all. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 

it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VQI,. 
BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  -  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  -         -  -     7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -  10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 
utftb  2-  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


K    OPINIONS 

"  Throughout  his  works  there  are  no  instances  of  special  pleading,  and  none  of 
evidence  suppressed  or  garbled  to  strengthen  an  argument." — Harpers  Weekly. 

"  Nothing  can  surpass  the  precision,  thoroughness,  and  judicial  fairness  with  which 
Mr  Bancroft  covers  his  points.  It  is  immensely  to  his  credit  that  he  has  not  only  made 
such  an  accumulation  of  facts,  but  that,  with  every  temptation  to  fall  in  with  the 
popular  view,  he  has  maintained  the  courage  and  the  bold  justice  of  his  opinions." — 
N.  Y.  Independent. 

"  Each  volume  gives  evidence  of  the  completeness  of  the  material  used,  and 
exhibits  the  clear  and  interesting  style  of  the  author." — The  Australasian. 

fi  Graphic  and  vivid  chapters  appear  throughout  every  volume  of  this  long  pro 
cession  ;  and  the  skill  with  which  material  points  are  made  salient,  and  immaterial  facts 
subordinated,  is  worthy  of  high  praise." — The  Century. 

"  A  monument  of  literary  and  historical  industry." — A.  R.  Spofford. 

"  The  narrative,  while  never  sacrificing  photographic  exactness  to  vivid  coloring, 
or  cold  fact  to  brilliancy,  is  of  absorbing  interest,  and  reads  like  one  long  romance." 
— Syracuse  Herald. 

11  He  does  not  stand  much  in  awe  of  traditional  reputations,  and  seems  determined 
to  state  frankly  the  facts  as  he  finds  them,  and  never  hesitates  to  express  his  own  con 
clusions.  The  author's  brilliant  and  picturesque  narration  will  attract  readers,  and  his 
outspoken  positions  will  attract  the  critics." — 'Ihe  Hartford  Courant. 

11  Hubert  H.  Bancroft  is  getting  to  be  noted  alike  as  a  careful,  industrious  historian, 
and  a  collector  of  very  valuable  books  and  manuscripts.  The  comprehensive  scope  and 
detail  of  his  work  are  both  unusual.  His  new  book  is  a  marvel  of  painstaking  research 
and  accuracy." — Philadelphia  Times. 

"Mr.  Bancroft's  style  is  marked  by  a  charming  grace  and  rhythm." — Kansas  City 
Journal. 

"  The  exceptional  breadth  and  depth  of  his  reading  excites  astonishment." — Mel 
bourne  Leader. 

"  A  volume  of  remarkable  completeness  and  value." — Boston  Journal. 

"  The  freshness  and  vigor  last  to  the  end  of  the   volume." — London  Motning  Post. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  style  is  always  clear  and  concise,  often  graphic  and  picturesque 
without  attempting  sensational  effects." — New  York  Times. 

"  Much  of  the  most  valuable  history  here  recited  would  have  never  appeared,  and 
been  wholly  lost,  had  it  not  been  for  the  energy  and  untiring  work  cf  this  historian, 
who  thus  honestly  lays  the  generation  under  a  debt  of  obligations." — Chicago  Inter- 
Ocean. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  volumes  will  increase  in  value  as  the  years  go  by." — Boston 
Traveller. 

11  His  narrative  is  written    in  vigorous  English.  "—Philadelphia  Enquirer. 

"  He  planned  boldly  and  wrought  laboriously." — Mo.  Republican. 

"The  work  is  one  we  should  expect  to  find  in  every  good  library." — N.  Y.  Herald. 

"  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  future  writer  upon  the  history  of  the  Pacific  Coast  can 
escape  from  basing  his  work  mainly  on  Mr  Bancroft's. " — Chicago  News. 

11  Especial  skill  and  good  judgment  have  been  shown  in  balancing  conflicting 
authorities,  and  in  drawing  a  conclusion  from  disagreeing  witnesses." — N.  Y.  Post. 

"  In  the  consideration  of  the  conditions  and  the  weighing  of  motives  the  author 
proves  himself  possessed  of  those  judicial  qualities  so  essential  to  the  historian." — Sac. 
Record- Union. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  has  an  eminently  practical  way  of  looking  at  history.  There  is  no 
effort  made  to  bolster  up  a  man  or  a  creed,  as  we  find  in  Macaulay  and  Froude ;  there  is 
absolutely  none  of  that  ingenious  work  which  has  been  aptly  called  'historical 
whitewashing.'  The  historian  seems  to  be  free  from  all  prejudice,  free  from  partisan 
bias  and  rancor.  Greater  scope  will  be  given  in  subsequent  volumes  to  this  admirable 
method  of  impartial  criticism ;  but  instances  of  it  are  not  lacking  here,  and  they  are 
an  earnest  of  the  spirit  in  which  this  work  will  be  written." — S.  F.  Chronicle. 

"  In  exposing  the  mistakes  of  his  predecessors,  Mr  Bancroft  combines  impartiality 
of  spirit  and  soundness  of  judgment  with  thoroughness  of  research,  so  that  his  opinions, 
generallv,  will  probably  be  accepted  by  scholars  as  final." — S.  F.  Alta. 

"  His  style  is  well  suited  for  a  historian,  clear,  concise,  full  of  force,  and  yet  devoid 
of  dryness." — Denver  Tribune. 

"  He  shows  not  only  learning  and  research,  and  rare  literary  power — grace  and 
charm  of  style,  without  extravagance  or  rhetoric  ;  but  quick  sympathy  together  with 
great  independence  and  impartiality  of  judgment." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

"With  rare  skill  he  analyzes  the  traits  of  his  characters." — S.  F.  Post. 
US 


<:N"ot  only  unequalled,   but  unapproached.      A  literary  enterprise   more   deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic."—  Aorlh  American  Review. 


HISTORY  OF  THE 

NORTHWEST    COAST 

Complete  in  2  volumes,  8vo.,  1,518  pages,  with  Maps   and  Plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

These  volumes  are  of  surpassing  interest.  If  there  be  such  a 
Lhing  as  the  prehistoric  in  America  since  the  coming  of  the  Europeans,  we 
find  it  here.  It  was  the  farthest  away  region,  the  last  to  be  explored, 
of  any  in  the  two  Americas.  Navigators  and  explorers  made  it  the  field  of 
their  fabricated  exploits,  assured  that  it  would  be  long  before  their  lies 
were  found  out,  while,  in  the  mean  time,  they  might  secure  by  means  of  them 
the  object  sought;  and  but  for  the  long  and  studious  investigations  of  Mr. 
Bancroft,  by  which  means  alone  the  true  could  be  separated  from  the  false, 
and  the  results  of  which  are  preserved  in  these  two  volumes,  the  history  of 
this  epoch  with  its  wonderful  developments  must  ever  have  remained 
more  mythological  than  real. 

The  term  Northwest  was  originally  applied  by  the  British  colonist 
to  the  partially  explored  region  in  that  direction,  which  region  was  ever 
receding  as  settlements  extended,  until  the  corner  of  the  continent  was  reached. 
During  the  past  century,  what  was  understood  by  the  Northwest  Coast  was 
the  Pacific  seaboard  above  California,  and  extending  inland  indefinitely, 
spreading  over  territory  now  covered  by  half  a  dozen  states  or  more,  to  every 
one  of  which  these  volumes  must  forever  constitute  the  early  history.  The 
time  covered,  from  1543  to  1846,  was  in  this  far-away  land,  one  of 
exploration  and  fur -hunting,  rather  than  of  civilized  occupation  and 
settlement. 

The  work  opens  with  an  introduction  to  the  seaboard  explorations, 
and  the  fantastical  doings  of  navigators,  about  which  conjecture  was  so  long 
rife.  Here  was  the  home  of  mystery,  a  mingling  of  the  conjectural  and 
real.  A  masterly  analysis  is  made  of  the  origin  of  the  Northern 
Mystery  and  the  Strait  Myth,  that  is  a  hypothetical  or  imaginary  sea- 
opening  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  anywhere  above  California. 
It  required  no  surveying  expedition  in  those  days  to  enable  the  geographers 
to  map  any  part  of  the  world;  for  whenever  facts  failed  them  they  had 
only  to  fill  in  from  the  imagination,  and  none  might  dispute  them.  In 
this  way,  map-makers  used  also  to  fill  remote  waters  with  imaginary  islands, 
inhabited  by  strange  peoples,  and  sea- monsters  scattered  about. 

After  the  apocryphal  voyages  comes  the  real  discovery  of  the 
country,  Francis  Drake  among  the  first,  though  none  could  exceed  the 
reverend  chaplain  of  this  piratical  crew  in  lying.  Then  follow  several 
Spanish  expeditions,  under  Gali,  Vizcaino,  and  others;  and  after  them  the 
English,  Cook,  Vancouver,  etc.,  and  then  the  Americans  from  Boston, 

Hist.  N.  W.  C.    1 


Kendrick  and  Gray;  with  now  and  then  a  Dutchman,  Frenchman,  or 
Russian.  All  the  nations  wanted  a  hand  in  the  picking,  and  claimed  a 
slice  of  the  world  in  this  region,  under  one  pretext  or  another,  some 
of  them  meeting  at  Nootka,  on  the  west  side  of  Vancouver  Island,  to  quarrel 
about  it.  A  fascinating  sketch  of  the  fur-trade  between  this  coast  and 
China  is  next  given.  Vessels  would  come  out  from  England  or  the  United 
States  with  trinkets,  rum,  and  blankets,  and  after  spending  months  or  years 
trafficking  with  the  natives,  and  gathering  peltries,  sail  away  for  China, 
there  exchanging  their  cargoes  for  teas  and  silks,  and  returning  home,  some 
times  enormously  enriched.  After  the  maritime  fur -trade  we  have  a 
complete  delineation  of  the  traffic  on  land:  how  the  Frenchmen  first 
came  to  Canada  and  won  the  hearts  of  the  natives,  lapsing  into  half 
savagism  themselves;  how  the  English  came  and  took  the  country  from 
them,  Prince  Rupert  and  his  associates  getting  control  of  the  immense  region 
round  Hudson  bay;  how  hunters  and  traders  live  and  conduct  their  business 
in  the  forest;  how  forts  are  built  and  managed;  how  the  fur -trade  in  the 
United  States  began,  and  gradually  made  its  way  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific;  how  the  white  men  and  savages  usually  got  along  together;  how 
all  the  great  fr.r- trading  companies  were  formed,  and  how  they  fought  one 
another;  and  finally  the  beginning  of  through  overland  expeditions,  and  a 
description  of  the  natural  passes  and  routes  through  the  mountains,  from 
Alaska  to  Panama. 

Mackenzie's  voyage  closes  Vol.  I,  and  Vol.  II  opens  with  that 
of  Lewis  and  Clarke.  These  are  of  the  utmost  importance;  and  a  separate 
account  of  either  of  them  would  cost  more  than  these  two  volumes.  So  with 
scores  of  the  first  expeditions  in  various  directions  over  this  country,  accounts 
of  which  exist  elsewhere  only  in  manuscript.  There  was  Fraser  on  Fraser 
river,  and  Thompson  on  Thompson  fiver,  Astor's  people  at  Astoria,  and  the 
doings  of  the  great  Northwest  and  Hudson's  bay  companies.  The  Oregon 
question  is  ably  discussed,  and  its  merits  and  demerits  determined.  It 
is  imposssible  even  to  allude  to  a  thousandth  part  of  the  attractions  contained 
in  these  volumes,  many  of  which  can  be  found  treated  in  no  other  work. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 

it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL. 
BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINE:  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  -     7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 
Hist-  N-w-a  2  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


SPECIMEN  OPINIONS 

"Of  peculiar  interest  to  the  people  of  Oregon  and  of  the  whole  north  Pacific  coast. " 
—Portland  Oregonian. 

"In  not  a  few  points  Mr.  Bancroft  has  absolutely  opened  up  the  ground,  yet  his  pages 
are  seldom  dry ;  he  is  a  pioneer,  yet  his  tread  is  never  tired  or  undecided." — British 
Quarterly  Review. 

"We  hardly  know  which  to  admire  most — the  marvellous  patience  and  perseverance  of 
the  author,  or  the  scholarly  learning  and  just  and  discriminating  judgment  which  is 
displayed.  The  style  is  one  that  should  be  followed  by  historians.  It  is  clear  and 
forcible,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  has  chronicled  the  events  is  masterly." — Liverpool 
Albion. 

"We  are  bound  to  offer  our  tribute  to  the  author." — Glasgow  Herald. 

"The  vivid  narrative  flows  on  with  astonishing  ease  and  power.  There  is  not  a  dull 
page  in  the  book." — The  Continent. 

"Your  method  of  study  is  absolutely  the  only  way  of  accomplishing  the  vast  under 
taking  which  you  have  entered  upon — one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  literary  history. 
The  example  of  wealth  successfully  devoted  to  a  high  intellectual  object  will  be  a  benefit 
to  the  whole  country. — Francis  Parkman. 

"Mr  Bancroft's  style  is  marked  by  a  charming  grace  and  rhythm.  It  not  infrequently 
presents  long-sustained  examples  of  sentential  structure,  modelled  and  polished  by 
the  severest  rules  of  the  schools,  and  it  sometimes  pours  itself  along  with  a  natural 
force  and  ruggedness,  now  and  then  rising  to  the  height  of  grandeur.  But  its  generic 
quality  is  found  in  a  straightforward  directness  which  seems  to  ignore  art,  but  which  is, 
in  reality,  the  equivalent  of  the  best  art  in  speech. — Boston  Journal. 

"A  shining  current  of  history,  streams  through  the  pages." — >S.  F.  Bulletin. 
"Mr  Bancroft  is  doing  the  world  an  infinite  service." — S.  L.  Tribune. 

"The  work  will  continue  to  grow  in  popularity  with  the  revolving  years." — S.  F. 
Post. 

"Ought  to  have  thousands  of  readers  in  Montana." — Helena  Herald. 

•''His  style  has  a  simple  dignity  which  cannot  fail  to  impress  the  reader  and  make  him 
feel  that  besides  knowledge  and  patience,  it  has  that  crowning  excellence  which  conies 
from  the  command  of  fitting  words." — Chicago  Dial, 

"The  continuous  publication  of  such  a  work  is  a  literary  event  so  unprecedented 
and  important  that  no  record  or  summary  of  the  signal  incidents  of  the  time  can  omit 
it." — Harper's  Weekly. 

"As  a  history  it  covers  the  whole  subject  so  completely  as  to  preclude  any  future 
attempt  to  rival  it." — Baltimore  Sun. 

"The  book  is  as  fascinating  as  a  novel." — Rochester  Herald. 

"A  romantic  country  and  a  romantic  time." — Phil.  Inquirer. 

"The  world  is  indebted  to  this  man  because  he  had  the  broad  comprehension,  and 
the  unselfish  liberty  and  the  genius  to  enter  upon  a  task  that  can  only  be  compassed 
by  the  means  he  employed." — N.  Y.  Union. 

"It  is  a  masterly  work  of  herculean  energy  and  prodigious,  long  continued  indus 
try." — Galveston  News. 

"The  grandest  and  most  continuous  work  of  the  kind  ever  woven  into  the  English 
language . " — Astorian. 

"He  has  treated  his  subject  intelligently  as  well  as  exhaustively,  and  every  evidence 
is  given  that  these  histories  will  be  the  most  valuable  for  practical  use  of  any  in  the 
English  language." — New  Haven  Palladium. 

"The  work  is  all  well  done.  The  author's  style  is  clear  and  nervous  ;  his  temper  calm 
and  judicial.  Mr  Bancroft  has  apparently  narrated  facts  as  he  found  them,  and  passed 
judgment  with  every  intent  to  be  just,  fair,  and  dispassionate." — Boston  Pilot. 

"Monumental,  unique,  and  comprehensive  history." — Troy  Times. 
"It  is  smoothly    and  clearly  written,   and    while   carefully  and   surely  accurate  is 
picturesque  and  spirited." — Boston  Post. 

"It  is  filled  with  dramatic  incidents,  and  its  heroes  have  somewhat  of  the  grandiose 
stature  of  the  characters  in  the  old  German  Nibelungen  Lied." — 5.  F.  Chronicle. 

"An  immense  work,  each  succeeding  installment  of  which  increases  one's  admiration 
for  the  boldness  and  breadth  of  its  plan,  and  the  extraordinary  executive  ability 
displayed." — Chicago  Times. 

Hist.  N.  W.  C.   3 


I  "Not  only   unequalled,  but  unapproached.      A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North'American  Review. 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON 

Complete  in  2  vols.,  8vo,  1651  pages,  with  maps  and  plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

Few  people  have  a  greater  pride  in  their  early  history  than  Oregonians; 
and  justly  so.  Probably  there  never  was  a  more  intelligent  and  honorable 
settlement  of  a  country  than  here.  They  came  hither  for  noble  purposes, 
and  nobly  did  they  endure  the  attendant  hardships,  and  perform  the  neces 
sary  duties  incident  to  morality  and  good  government.  Likewise  may  the 
people  of  Oregon  be  proud  of  the  manner  in  which  their  history  is 
recorded.  It  is  fortunate  for  them  that  Mr.  Bancroft  did  not  stop  in  his 
labors  with  the  completion  of  California,  but  applied  his  matchless  system 
for  gathering  and  recording  events  as  well  to  Oregon.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
no  nation  on  earth  has  a  more  complete  or  better  early  history  than  Oregon, 
and  that  without  the  expenditure  of  a  single  dollar  by  the  government. 

How  was  this  great  work  performed  by  Mr.  Bancroft?  First  he 
gathered  up  all  the  printed  material  he  could  find  touching  the  subject, 
visiting  the  Hast  and  Kurope  many  times  for  that  purpose.  Then  he  came 
to  Oregon,  and  set  himself  down  among  the  pioneers  and  leading  men  of  the 
country,  and  listened  to  all  that  they  could  tell  him,  his  stenographers  taking 
down  what  was  said  and  writing  it  out  for  future  use  and  reference.  He 
saw  the  former  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  gray-haired  and 
tottering,  and  most  of  whom  have  since  passed  away.  He  saw  the  men  and 
women  of  the  several  immigrations;  he  listened  to  the  opinions  of  statesmen 
and  judges.  In  this  way  the  chief  men  of  Oregon  were  enlisted  in  the 
cause,  and  the  history  may  be  said  to  be  in  a  measure  their  work,  performed 
at  the  hand  of  Mr.  Bancroft.  Glance  at  the  list  of  authorities  and  see  how 
largely  the  work  is  made  up  from  this  class  of  material,  existing  only  in 
manuscript  form  outside  of  these  volumes.  Surely  every  true  man  and 
woman  throughout  the  land  should  have  it,  and  prize  it,  and  profit  by  it. 

L,et  us  now  look  into  it.  First  we  find  presented  a  magnificent 
picture  of  the  country  as  it  was  in  the  year  1834,  at  which  time  the  fur- 
hunter  was  retiring  from  the  field  and  the  settler  entering  it.  The  physical 
features  of  the  country  are  graphically  delineated,"  with  an  account  of  the 
people,  red  and  white,  inhabiting  it  at  that  time.  One  chapter  is  devoted 
to  life  at  Fort  Vancouver,  then  the  metropolitan  post  and  headquarters 
of  the  white  men.  Next  we  have  grandly  depicted  the  choicest  episodes  of 
history,  the  settlement  of  the  country  by  the  missionaries;  how  Flatheads 
went  to  St.  Louis  and  asked  to  have  men  sent  them  to  teach  them  the  way 
to  God;  how  such  men  were  chosen  and  sent,  first  the  methodists  sending 


some,  then  the  presbyterians,  and  also  the  catholics;  how  traders  interspersed 
themselves  among  the  missionaries  in  this  work;  how  lacking  cattle  to  htock 
their  limitless  and  fertile  pastures,  they  organized  a  company  and  sent  to 
California  for  them;  how  they  entered  upon  the  work  of  colonization  as  well 
as  conversion,  and  established  forms  of  government.  The  Indians  of  this 
country  being  a  warlike  race,  there  were  at  various  times  bloody  wars, 
accounts  of  which  are  here  most  truthfully  and  graphically  given,  with 
the  attendant  theories  and  actions  of  government  and  settlers.  A  most  thrilling 
chapter  is  the  Whitman  massacre,  never  before  correctly  written,  as 
many  new  facts  regarding  the  event  were  unearthed  by  Mr.  Bancroft. 

With  Vol.  II.  begins  a  more  systematic  system  of  town-building,  the 
people  feeling  by  this  time  that  they  had  come  to  stay.  Besides  Oregon  City 
there  were  founded  Portland,  Vancouver,  and  other  places  ;  roads  were  con 
structed,  a  currency  made,  and  schools  and  benevolent  societies  established. 
Thus  passed  away  the  colonial  period,  the  account  of  which  is  replete  with 
interest  and  instruction. 

In  the  midst  of  this  slow  but  steady  progress  news  of  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  California  burst  upon  the  people  of  Oregon  with  startling  effect, 
awakening  them  to  action,  and  revolutionizing  many  of  their  ways.  Off 
rushed  thousands  to  the  mines,  and  formed  communities  there,  many  of  them 
returning  with  good  bags  of  the  dust.  Some  time  afterward  was  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  Oregon.  There  is  always  something  fascinating  about  gold 
discoveries  and  gold  digging,  attended  as  they  are  by  so  much  uncertainty 
and  excitement. 

General  Jo  Lane  was  a  character,  whether  as  hero  of  the  Mexican  war, 
governor  of  Oregon,  or  aspirant  for  presidential  honors.  Then  there  were 
Thurston,  Gaines,  and  many  others  whose  lives  and  achievements  stand  out 
in  true  colors  in  this  history.  Exceedingly  important  chapters  are  those  on 
surveys  and  town-making,  land-laws  and  land-titles,  the  dona 
tion  land-law  being  an  institution  of  the  country.  The  Rogue  River,  Sho- 
shone,  and  other  wars  are  full  of  exciting  interest,  while  the  chapters  on  the 
Modoc  war  are  said  to  be  among  tile  finest  in  history.  The  material  interests 
and  progress  of  the  state  are  nowhere  else  so  fully  and  faithfully  given  as 
here,  and  surely  every  intelligent  and  progressive  person  will  have  a  history 
of  his  own  country,  if  he  can  get  a  good  one. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  voi,. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  -      $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE     -  •  -        -      5  5° 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL-MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -     10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Oregon  2 


SPECIMEN    OPINIONS 

"  Our  admiration  for  these  Pacific  coast  histories  has  been  one  of  growth.  It  has 
been  the  child  of  profound  conviction  that  in  the  gathering  of  the  vast  quantity  of  records 
necessary  for  the  work,  in  the  masterly  sifting  of  truth  from  error,  in  the  enthusiastic 
pursuit  of  the  remotest  proofs  that  would  shed  light  upon  fast  failing  memories  of  fact  or 
records  of  events  and  peoples,  in  the  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  of  the  scholar,  and  the 
bounty  of  the  philanthropist,  the  author  of  these  histories  has  accomplished  a  work  of 
such  breadth  and  depth,  and  of  such  immeasurable  value  to  the  people,  as  entitles  him 
to  the  gratitude  of  his  countrymen  and  the  admiration  of  his  contemporaries." — 
Oregonian.  9 

"  Mr.  Bancroft's  contribution  to  Oregon  history  is  timely  and  deserves  generous 
patronage  and  wide  circulation." — Helena  Herald. 

"Mr.  Bancroft  has  chronicled  every  step — we  might  almost  say  every  detail — of  this 
growth  in  his  careful  and  thorough  manner,  and  there  is  probably  no  name  of  any  one 
who  at  any  time  contributed  to  the  history  or  prosperity  of  Oregon  which  is  not  recorded 
in  these  volumes.  As  usual,  much  attention  is  given  to  county  and  city  annals,  and  to 
the  record  of  the  pioneers,  biographical  material  being  furnished  in  abundance,  and 
employed  with  skill  and  judgment.  A  full  index  completes  the  serviceableness  of  this 
faithful  and  picturesquely  written  book." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"  The  style  of  the  book  is  clear,  direct,  forcible  ;  the  interest  is  sustained  throughout, 
and  the  many  graphic  pictures  of  the  struggles  of  the  pioneers  linger  in  the  memory. 
In  all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  genuine  contribution  to  historical  literature  this  history 
of  Oregon  deserves  to  take  rank  beside  his  history  of  California  or  his  fine  volume  on 
Alaska  as  a  specimen  of  the  best  work  of  Bancroft."— S.  F.  Chronicle. 

"  Mr.  Bancroft  has  performed  the  difficult  task  to  which  he  set  himself  with  rare 
skill  and  fidelity,  and  his  Oregon  will  be  remembered  among  the  most  valuable  of  the 
volumes  of  his  invaluable  and  monumental  work." — Boston  Traveller. 

"  The  development  of  Oregon,  from  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  gold  to  the  present 
day,  is  most  remarkable." — S.  F.  Argonaut. 

"  The  peculiar  surroundings  and  circumstances  attending  the  initiation  of  Oregon 
and  its  enrollment  among  the  territories,  and  afterward  as  a  state  of  the  union,  makes 
its  history  both  romantic  and  interesting." — Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"  The  story  is  well  told,  and  possesses  a  picturesqueness  of  detail  irresistibly  fascin 
ating." — Galveston  News. 

"  One  of  the  noblest  literary  enterprises  of  our  day."— John  G.  Whittier. 
"  The  story  is  one  of  great  interest." — Phil.  Inquirer. 

"  Mr.  Bancroft's  researches  were  undertaken  at  a  most  opportune  time." — Glasgow 
Herald. 

"  The  most  unique  and  extensive  literary  enterprise  ever  undertaken  in  any  country 
by  a  single  private  individual." — Buffalo  Advertiser. 

"  His  theory  of  writing  history  is  to  tell  the  truth  as  plainly  and  concisely  as  possi 
ble."—  Hartford  Courant. 

"  That  in  his  methods  and  his  style  he  gives  evidence  of  rare  originality  and  marked 
vigor  of  thought;  that  he  is  no  mere  copyist ;  that  he  is  just  in  his  estimates,  cool  in  his 
judgment,  dispassionate  in  his  arraignments,  and  faithful  in  his  recitals,  none  have 
denied . ' ' — Sac.  Record-  Union. 

"It  will  mark  a  new  era  in  history  writing." — Chicago  Times. 

"Will  prove  of  priceless  value  in  later  years" — Oregon  City  Courier. 

"  He  has  pursued  a  most  scholarly  method." — 5".  F.  Post. 

"  Will  ever  remain  as  a  monument  to  the  writer's  intelligence." — N".  Y.  Herald. 

"  In  its  directness  and  familiarity  of  expression  it  recalls  the  charm  of  the  models  of 
classic  Greek  history." — N.  Y.  Home  Journal. 

"  Mr.  Bancroft  has  done  good  service  in  his  masterly  exposition  of  Oregon's  forma 
tive  period.  His  work  deserves  a  shrine  in  every  household  in  the  State." — Or.  Vidette. 

"  A  marvel  of  industry  and  hard  work." — London  Morning  Post. 

"  He  sifts  with  a  master's  hand  the  immense  mass  of  facts,  and  the  conflicting  testi 
mony  of  witnesses,  and  sets  faithfully  the  true  points  forward." — British  Quarterly 
Review. 

Oregon  3 


"Not  only  unequalled,  but   unapproached.      A  literary  enterprise   more   deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 


HISTORY  OF 

Washington,  Idaho  and  Montana 

Complete  in  i  vol.,  8vo.,  775  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

By  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

These  three  political  divisions  constitute  naturally,  in  their  early 
annals,  one  history.  For  a  time  Montana  was  apart  of  Idaho,  and  Idaho  and 
Montana  a  part  of  Washington,  so  that  for  the  histories  of  Montana  and 
Idaho  we  must  go  back  to  Washington. 

All  of  these  divisions  are  developing  into  magnificent  common 
wealths,  seats  of  culture  and  progress,  wherein  civilization  will  reach  its 
highest  aspirations,  and  the  people  will  be  proud  of  their  country,  and 
embalm  with  honor  those  who  reclaimed  these  lands  from  savagism. 

Before  Mr.  Bancroft  began  his  remarkable  historical  labors  there  was 
but  little  material  regarding  this  region  in  existence.  By  gathering  up 
what  there  was,  however,  and  carefully  husbanding  it,  filling  up  gaps  from 
the  original  sources  and  following  out  lines  abruptly  broken  here  and  there, 
going  over  and  over  the  ground  many  times  for  this  purpose,  he  was  finally 
enabled,  to  his  great  satisfaction,  to  secure  for  Washington,  Idaho,  and 
Montana  the  same  rich  abundance  of  materials  for  their  early  annals  which 
were  enjoyed  by  the  other  sections  covered  by  his  work. 

This  volume  opens  with  the  first  settlement  of  white  men  on 
Puget  Sound,  not  calling  the  forts  or  cattle  plantations  of  the  fur-com 
pany  settlements.  The  fur  magnates  frowned  upon  all  such  inroads  upon 
their  domains,  and  sought  by  all  fair  means  to  peaceably  drive  back  the 
encroaching  Americans.  But  as  the  cry  of  "  Fifty -four  forty  or  fight !  " 
had  been  raised,  few  among  those  who  wished  to  become  settlers  would  per 
mit  themselves  to  be  intimidated. 

In  chapter  II,  while  yet  the  country  is  first  all  Oregon  and  then  all 
Washington,  we  have  eight  years  of  political  history  and  development. 
Counties  were  created,  a  new  territory  erected,  and  government  organized. 
Columbia  they  thought  to  call  it  first,  and  which  indeed  would  have  been 
a  better  name  than  Washington. 

Olympia  in  her  early  days  presented  a  most  picturesque  appear 
ance  with  the  split  cedar  cabins  of  the  white  men,  the  Indian  huts,  and  the 
surrounding  forests  all  mirrored  in  the  clear  waters  of  the  Sound. 

Governor  Stevens  figures  prominently  in  explorations  and  politics, 
and  his  remarkable  career  is  given  the  place  in  history  which  it  merits.  The 
perusal  of  his  life  shows  what  one  man  can  do  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow- 
men  of  the  present  and  future  ages. 

In  due  time  rich  gold  deposits  were  found,  whose  area  extended  fat 
eastward,  and  the  discoveries  of  which  from  time  to  time  led  to  the  dismem 
berment  first  of  Idaho  and  then  of  Montana. 


The  whole  country  was  kept  back  by  Indian  wars,  which  from  time 
to  time  broke  out,  some  of  them  very  bloody.  The  inhabitants  of  Seattle 
and  other  prominent  localities  narrowly  escaped  destruction. 

Idaho,  when  set  off  by  Congress  in  1863,  including  Montana  with 
portions  of  Dakota  and  Nebraska,  was  indeed  the  world's  wonder-land. 
Here  was  the  home  of  gold,  with  all  the  attendant  marvels  for  its  manufac 
ture.  California  was  eclipsed,  though  much  less  noise  was  made  about  both 
the  discoveries  of  precious  metals  and  the  hanging  of  thieves. 

Settlement  follows  discovery,  in  the  usual  routine,  while  the  extermi 
nation  of  the  Indians  is  implied.  It  turned  out  that  here  was  great  nat- 
tural  wealth,  in  both  gold  and  grasses,  where  little  had  been  expected. 

While  the  word  Montana  signifies  mountainous,  it  is  in  reality  a  series 
of  basins,  as  Colorado  is  a  series  of  parks.  It  is  intensely  interesting 
here  to  read  from  the  book  of  nature,  carrying  us  back  as  it  does  to  the  time 
when  the  Yellowstone  basin  was  an  Arctic  sea. 

Montana  has  experienced  every  phase,  every  craze,  attending  the 
seizure  of  savagism  by  civilization — the  eras  aboriginal,  fur-hunting,  and 
mining,  with  explorations  and  settlement,,  political  rascalities  and  the  opera 
tions  of  road-agents,  followed  by  purgations  and  wholesale  hangings.  The 
delineations  of  these  various  episodes  render  this  volume  intensely  inter 
esting. 

No  part  of  it  is  more  important  than  its  political  history,  for  here 
more  than  elsewhere,  if  possible,  men  had  to  govern  themselves.  They  were 
cut  off  from  all  civilized  surroundings,  thrown  naked  into  a  savage  wilder 
ness,  and  it  was  a  fight  for  life.  After  settling  with  nature  and  the  wild 
man,  they  had  their  own  bad  element  to  lop  off,  after  which  there  were  no 
better,  more  peaceable,  or  more  happy,  progressive,  or  intelligent  people  in 
the  world. 

Last  of  all,  and  while  yet  the  mines  were  exceedingly  productive, 
arose  the  great  industry  of  stock-raising  to  surprise  the  world.  And 
when  in  consequence  sprang  up  a  crop  of  millionaires,  whose  homes  for 
elegance  and  refinement  were  equal  to  any  of  the  cultured  Kast,  the  climax 
of  western  development  was  indeed  reached, 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  vox,. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH      -  $4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINE  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  -  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -     10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY. 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Hist.  Wash.  Id.  &  Mont. 


SPKCIJVLKN   OPINIONS 

"  A  solitary  figure  in  American  history." — Kansas  City  Journal. 

"Attractive  alike  to  the  general  reader,  the  historian,  the  statesman,  and  the  sociolo 
gist." — London  Morning  Post. 

"  He  has  done  for  the  commonwealths  of  the  Pacific  what  learned  historical  societies 
are  endeavoring  to  do  for  the  commonwealths  lying  on  the  Atlantic. " — Boston  Traveller. 

11  Seems  very  like  a  public  benefactor." — S.  F.  Evening  Post. 

' '  His  diligence  in  collecting  data,  his  painstaking  in  arrangement,  his  accuracy  of 
statement,  as  well  as  the  vastness  of  his  undertaking,  give  him  a  place  among  historians 
similar  to  that  occupied  by  Mr  Spencer  among  sociologists." — Boston  Journal. 

"  Not  overburdened  with  its  immense  load  of  learning,  the  narrative  moves  briskly, 
clearly,  and  often  graphically  on.;' — Congregationalist. 

"  By  his  agency  the  humblest  scholar  will  be  enabled  to  walk  in  fields  where  he  had 
iiever  before  hoped  to  tread." — Sacramento  Record- Uniox. 

"  The   most  important  literary  undertaking  of  our  times." — Oregonian. 

"  The  work  forms  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  of  modern  times,  and 
should  have  an  honored  place  in  every  well-selected  library." — -Journal  of  Science. 

"  His  completed  work  will  be  reckoned  among  the  most  precious  treasures  of  our 
literature." — Literary  World. 

"  It  is  history  such  as  the  investigators  of  future  times  will  rejoice  to  find." 
— New  York  Times. 

"  There  are  few,  if  any,  finer  pieces  of  historic  writing." — Chicago   Times. 

"  The  grandest  undertaking  in  historical  writing  ever  projected  by  ose  man." 
— Century. 

"  Full  of  interesting  facts  well  marshalled,  the  narrative  well  sustained,  and  the 
basis  of  profound,  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the  whole  ground  apparent  everywhere."— 
Wendell  Phillips. 

"  A  work  fuller  and  more  exhaustive  for  its  plan  and  scope  than  any  ever  before 
written." — English  Historical  Review. 

"He  resolved  nobly,   and,  posterity  will  say,  wisely." — Missouri  Republican. 

"  Children  yet  unborn  in  the  Golden  State  of  the  Pacific  will  rise  up  and  call  him 
blessed,  who  has  left  them  such  a  rich  inheritance." — Santa  Cruz  Sentinel. 

11  It  is  an  astonishing  production." — Galveston  News. 

u  The  distinguished  author  has  visited  this  place  for  the  purpose  of  gathering 
historical  information." — Seattle  Post- Intelligencer. 

"  It  links  our  generation  with  the  past,  and  pictures  what  we  may  regard  as  laying 
the  foundations  of  our  history." — Port  Townsend  Argus. 

"  A  work  that  will  endure  for  all  ages," — Tacoma  Ledger. 

11  The  grand  and  instructive  features  of  our  history  are  worked  up  with  the  fidelity 
and  genius  common  to  this  author." — Helena  Independent. 

' '  Any  one  who  wishes  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  growth  of  any  industry  will  find  it 
here  in  the  remarkable  chapters  that  chronicle  the  material,  moral,  and  intellectual 
development  of  the  country.  In  no  part  of  Mr  Bancroft's  work  is  the  result  of  his  grand 
system  of  gathering,  collating,  and  digesting  facts  shown  to  such  an  advantages  as  here. 
Nothing  like  it  can  be  found  in  any  history  of  any  other  State  of  the  Union ,  because  no 
historian  has  ever  had  the  materials  or  applied  the  methods  of  Mr  Bancroft."— -5*.  f. 
Chronicle. 

"  He  still  maintains  his  lucid  power  of  arrangement,  his  cunning  touches  of  local 
color,  and  his  keen  discrimination  in  filling  in  the  features  of  those  whose  portraits  he 
has  to  paint." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

11  This  unfolding  of  States  is  the  fairest  theme  history  ever  dwelt  upon./' — S.  JL. 
Tribune. 

"  Mr.  Bancroft  has  carried  on  his  work  with  ability  and  magnificent  devotion.  It 
resembles  that  of  some  great  department  of  State,  whole  libraries  are  searched, 
collections  that  have  required  a  lifetime  in  the  making  of  them  are  ransacked.  Every 
fact  is  noted,  placed  in  its  own  class  and  laid  up  for  future  use." — N.  Y.  Independent. 

Wash.,  Idaho  &  Mont.  3. 


''Not  only   unequalled,  but  unapproached.      A  literary  enterprise   more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 

HISTORY  OF 
BRITISH    COLUMBIA 

Complete  in  one  volume,  8vo,  823  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

BY  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

In  glancing  over  the  list  of  authorities  used  in  this  volume,  one  is 
struck  by  the  large  number  of  original  manuscripts  it  contains.  This 
is  a  characteristic  feature  of  all  of  Mr  Bancroft's  historical  investigations. 
Whenever  sufficient  material  did  not  exist,  which  was  often  the  case,  he  went 
to  work  and  created  it.  He  usually  found  masses  of  it  in  out-of-the-way 
places;  and  when  all  that  he  could  find  was  gathered  and  sifted,  and  arranged 
for  the  gaps  that  still  remained,  and  for  fresh  information  about  all  the  rest, 
he  sought  out  the  old  men  who  had  first  come  to  the  country,  and  all 
those  who  had  assisted  in  any  considerable  degree  in  building  it  up  and 
making  it  what  it  is,  and  from  their  lips  wrote  down  their  lives.  In  this  way 
thousands  of  manuscripts  were  made,  to  each  of  which  a  distinctive  title  was 
given,  when  they  were  bound  and  lodged  in  his  priceless  library,  there  to 
constitute  forever  the  foundations  of  Pacific  coast  history.  In  British 
Columbia,  Mr  Bancroft  met  many  highly  entertaining  characters  among 
the  old  retired  officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  whose  chiefs  were 
once  autocrats  of  all  this  vast  region  from  the  Pacific  ocean  back  to  the  great 
lakes  and  the  shores  of  Hudson  bay — an  area  larger  than  that  of  all  the  United 
States.  It  was  the  East  India  Company  of  America,  whose  members 
were  lords  absolute  of  the  domain,  with  power  of  life  and  death  over  its 
savage  subjects.  As  in  the  missionary  fields  of  the  Spaniards  in  the 
south,  the  Indians  here  were  ruled  by  very  few  white  men,  two  or  three 
servants  of  the  company  often  being  the  sole  occupants  of  an  isolated  post,  a 
hundred  miles  distant  from  any  other,  and  the  whole  region  round  filled  with 
warlike  savages.  In  the  first  chapter  is  given  a  summary  of  the  earliest 
voyages  along  the  coast,  both  Spanish  and  English.  This  is  followed  by  a 
general  physical  description  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  its  configuration 
and  climates,  with  something  about  the  manner  in  which  the  white  men  and 
Indians  held  intercourse.  Then  follow  in  several  chapters  interesting 
accounts  of  the  manner  in  which  settlements  were  established  where 
now  is  Victoria/  and  afterward  in  other  localities,  as  Yale,  Hope,  Nanaimci 
and  New  Westminster,  and  which  occupation,  with  the  subsequent  gold 
discovery,  finally  undermined  and  destroyed  the  business  of  the  fur 
company.  The  establishment  at  Victoria,  or  Camosun,  as  the  spot 
was  called  by  the  Indians,  arose  out  of  the  necessity  on  the  part  of  the  fur 
company  of  a  metropolitan  post  in  the  north,  in  view  of  their  being  obliged  to 
retire  from  Fort  Vancouver,  on  the  Columbia,  when  that  section  should  fall 


into  the  hands  of  the  United  States.  It  was  likewise  thought  that  whalers 
might  rendezvous  at  the  southern  end  of  Vancouver  Island,  though  this  never 
happened  to  any  great  extent. 

The  Shush wap  conspiracy  is  the  title  of  a  Brilliant  Chapter,  full 
of  Indian  life  and  adventure,  and  illustrating  some  of  the  measures  to 
which  the  fur-traders  were  forced  sometimes  to  resort  to  save  their  lives  and 
property.  The  discovery  of  coal  brought  a  new  factor  into  the  possibilities 
of  the  country,  which,  with  agricultural  lands,  timber,  fisheries,  and,  later, 
gold,  threw  into  the  shade  furs  as  the  hitherto  chief  or  only  natural  wealth. 
The  story  of  the  discovery  of  coal  is  fully  as  exciting  as  that  of  trie  discovery 
of  gold,  although  gold-mining  is  attended  by  far  more  of  the  romantic  and 
chivalrous  vices  than  that  of  the  outputting  of  coal.  The  political  history 
of  British  Columbia  is  fully  and  ably  presented.  There  was  first  the  fur 
company  as  absolute  ruler,  fancying  itself  almost  owner  of  the  land  and  all 
upon  it,  occupying  as  it  did  under  government  grant  from  England.  All  this 
is  brought  out,  in  this  volume,  in  the  most  interesting  and  careful  manner. 

When  industrial  occupation  began  in  Vancouver  Island,  the  first  part 
of  the  domain  offered  for  settlement,  the  fur- traders  were  very  jealous  of 
Englishmen,  more  so  than  of  foreigners,  whom  they  feared  less.  The  fur 
magnates  charged  the  settlers  a  pound  an  acre,  when  in  Oregon  they  could 
get  better  land  for  the  asking.  The  governors  sent  out  from  England  had 
rather  a  sorrowful  time  of  it,  as  the  officers  of  the  fur  company  did  not  put 
themselves  out  much  to  make  them  comfortable.  But  when  the  chief  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  James  Douglas,  was  made  also  political  governor, 
the  monopolists  had  it  all  their  own  way,  and  peace  reigned  again.  And 
with  Island  and  Mainland  affairs  united,  civil,  commercial,  and  colonial 
rulership  all  being  one,  the  vast  region  might  still  have  been  kept  as  a  game 
preserve  but  for  the  sudden  appearing  of  all-powerful  gold.  The  fur- 
traders  had  long  known  of  its  existence,  but  had  kept  the  knowledge 
hidden  in  their  own  breasts.  When  the  old  chronic  gold-diggers  of  California 
heard  of  it,  ten  regiments  of  soldiers  could  not  have  kept  them  away.  The 
auriferous  sands  and  gravel  extended  over  a  wide  area,  and  the  yield  in 
the  aggregate  was  large.  Good  government  prevailed  in  the  mines,  and  it 
was  not  safe  to  slaughter  either  white  men  or  Indians.  It  is  a  most 
interesting  volume  on  a  country  containing  great  natural  wealth  well 
worth  knowing  about.  All  about  the  San  Juan  Island  difficulty  is 
related;  there  are  also  chapters  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  railway  and  other 
important  matters  well  worthy  of  attention. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 

it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  -     7  °° 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -    10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 
"• B  c   2  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


"it  am  amazed  at  your  courage  and  perseverance  in  working  your  way  through  such  a 
chaparral  of  authorities  as  you  quote.  Your  labor  is  immense." — Henry  W.  Longfellow. 

"His  research,  no  less  than  his  vivid  and  graceful  style,  has  extorted  the  admiration 
of  Mr.  Lecky  and  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer;  and  the  present  volumes  bear  abundant  traces 
both  of  his  laborious  collection  of  materials  a  id  of  his  power  of  using  them  in  the  con 
struction  of  a  narrative  of  fascinating  interest. " — London  Daily  News. 

"We  question  whether  it  has  ever  fallen  to  the  lot  of  one  man  to  conduct  so  success 
fully  so  colossal  a  literary  enterprise."— Boston  Journal. 

"Won  the  praise  of  Herbert  Spencer  and  Sir  Arthur  Helps  in  England,  and  that  of  all 
interested  in  the  subject  in  that  country,  and  of  every  man  in  Germany  and  France. 
The  praise  was  well  deserved." — Philadelphia  Gazette. 

"The  volume  is  highly  picturesque  and  effective." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

"His  writings  have  gained  him  a  place  amcng  the  first  historians  of  the  world." — 
Boston  Home  Journal. 

"Some  of  the  episodes  are  more  striking  than  fiction." — Baltimore  Sun. 
"An  exceedingly  readable  book." — S.  F.  Argonaut. 
"A  marvel  of  painstaking  research  and  accuracy." — P/iila.  Times. 
"Fascinating  volume." — Century. 

"There  never  was  a  more  brilliant  history  than  that  of  the  Pacific  Slope." — N.  Y. 
Independent. 

"As  it  is  most  laborious,  so  it  is  of  the  widest  and  most  permanent  interest." — 
Glasgow  Herald. 

"A  literary  monument  which  will  stand  without  equal." — Cleveland  Plain   Dealer. 

"The  subject  is  a  great  one,  and  the  record  of  the  Pacific  Coast  is  full  of  exciting 
incidents  and  romantic  adventures,  which  are  here  told  with  a  fullness  that  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired." — London  Times. 

"Whatever  progress  British  Columbia  may  achieve  hereafter,  the  early  history  of 
the  province  will  have  to  besought  in  the  great  treasure  house  of  Bancroft's  works." — 
N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"He  is  careful  to  make  no  statement  which  is  not  amply  vouched  for,  but  he  is 
pitiless  in  stripping  from  some  of  these  historical  characters  the  borrowed  plumes  in 
which  they  have  so  long  masqueraded." — 6*.  F.  Chronicle. 

"This  volume  may  be  said  to  be  the  first  attempt  to  unite  the  narrative  of  the  events 
concerning  this  part  of  the  British  Empire,  and  it  is  based  principally  upon  manu 
script  documents  communicated  by  the  chief  makers  of  the  history  now  published." — 
London  Morning  Post. 

"There  is  in  this  book  nothing  prosy,  no  prolixity,  no  mere  speculation — it  is  all  narra 
tive  activity,  dramatic  excitation,  the  story  indeed  of  the  mightiest  conquest  of  time, 
the  record  of  the  most  rapid  spread  of  civilizing  influence  known  to  history.  Though 
precise  like  Gibbon,  he  avoids  his  formality;  though  massive,  he  rounds  his  acute 
stateliness. ' ' — Sac.  Record-Union. 

"Mr.  Bancroft's  theory  of  history  is  an  eminently  philosophical  one,  more  so,  it 
would  appear,  for  disclaiming  to  be  philosophical  at  all.  From  the  first  volume  to 
the  last  published,  in  each  chapter  each  line  is  impressed  with  the  actuality  of  fact." — 
S.  F.  Ingleside.  - 

"It  is  said  that  in  the  reading  of  a  book  we  are  talking  with  a  man ;  in  reading  Mr 
Bancroft's  histories  we  are  indeed  conversing  with  growing  states  and  an  infant  nation. 
All  who  wish  to  understand  the  future  destiny  as  well  as  the  past  history  of  their  own  state, 
will  do  well  to  look  into  that  of  British  Columbia." — S.  F.  Star. 

'  'This  volume  separates  the  history  of  British  Columbia  into  six  eras,  and  people 
desire  to  know  all  about  it. ' ' — Salt  Lake  Tribune. 

H.  B.  c.    3 


"Not  only  unequalled,    but  unapproached.     A  literary  enterprise  more   deserving  of  a   generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 


HISTORY  OF  ALASKA 

Complete  in  one  vol.,  8vo.,  813  pages,  with  Maps  and  Plans 

BY    HUBERT    HOWE    BANCROFT 

It  is  a  most  fascinating  study  to  follow  the  several  European 
nations  in  their  entry  into  America,  and  watch  their  behavior  in  the  various 
methods  they  employed  in  despoiling  the  natives  and  seizing  their  lands. 
It  seems  to  have  made  no  difference  as  to  their  pretensions,  or  professions, 
whether  gold  or  furs,  or  land,  or  salvation;  all  the  same,  sooner  or  later, 
the  white  men  get  all  the  savages  had,  and  left  them  rum  and  diseases 
enough  to  prevent  their  wanting  anything  more  in  this  world. 

The  Russians  would  endure  sufferings  and  death  with  patience 
and  equanimity.  They  had  not  the  pestilential  airs  of  the  heated  tropics  to 
contend  with,  but,  coming  from  frozen  Siberia  through  the  sleet  and  snow 
of  Kamchatka  into  the  tempestuous  northern  waters,  there  was  for  them  no 
lack  of  suffering  to  be  endured.  In  regard  to  the  discovery  of  Alaska, 
one  might  say  that  it  was  always  discovered,  as  the  Asiatic  and  American 
Eskimos  have  crossed  Bering  Strait  on  the  ice  and  in  boats  for  a  hundred 
thousand  years,  for  all  any  one  knows  to  the  contrary.  But  it  was  a  different 
matter  when  Chirikof  and  Bering  came  from  Russia  and  sailed  across 
from  Kamchatka  to  somewhere  about  Mt.  St.  Elias.  Bering  died  on  the 
return  voyage  under  trying  circumstances. 

Seals  and  sea-otter!  There  were  millions  of  them  there,  and  the 
promyshleniki,  the  Russian  coureurs  des  bois,  or  free-booting  fur  collectors, 
came  swarming  in  to  harvest  them,  killing  on  their  own  account,  gathering 
some  themselves,  and  causing  the  natives  to  gather  more  for  them.  It  was 
a  cruel  day  for  both  the  Seals  and  Aleuts,  when  these  accursed  little  human 
vermin  came  down  upon  them.  Two  chapters  are  devoted  to  their  adventures 
— totally  new  chapters  in  American  History,  as,  indeed,  are  all  in 
this  most  original  and  absorbing  volume.  After  this  the  Imperial  Govern 
ment  of  Russia  undertook  some  fur-hunting,  proselytizing  and  colonization 
on  its  own  account,  but  did  not  succeed  very  well  at  it.  Men  will  suffer  hard 
ships  and  death  for  their  own  gain  sooner  than  for  the  glory  of  God  or  the 
benefit  of  the  King,  whose  arm  was  not  long  enough  to  control  them.  Some 
thing  must  be  done,  however,  or  Spain  would  capture  the  country, 
and  so  while  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade  was  given  to  commercial  companies, 
the  government  went  on  with  its  explorations.  England  was  early  there  w 
the  persons  of  Cook  and  Vancouver,  naming  everything  along  the  coast 
Shelikof,  one  of  the  most  prominent  characters  in  Alaskan  His- 


fcory ,  was  a  great  man,  the  study  of  whose  character  well  repays  the  trouble. 
Baranof,  whom  Shelikof  induced  to  join  his  company,  was  long  governor 
of  the  country,  and  a  very  peculiar  and  prominent  man. 

At  one  time  there  were  two  companies  in  the  field,  and  a  great  strife 
arose  between  them,  a  graphic  account  of  which  is  given  in  Chapter  XV  of 
this  volume.  After  this,  colonization  began  again,  and  missions  of  the  Greek 
Church  were  established. 

Under  the  rivalry  of  the  two  companies  the  exhaustion  of  the  seal- 
fisheries  was  threatened,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Shelikof  their  interests 
were  all  united  under  the  name  of  the  Russian- American  Company, 
Baranof  being  at  the  head. 

Two  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  massacre  at  and  recapture  of 
Sitka.  These  were  times  of  wild  excitement. 

An  ambassador  now  comes  upon  the  scene  in  the  person  of  Reganof, 
who  plays  an  important  part  in  the  development  of  the  Russian- American 
colonies,  and  among  other  things  he  drops  down  the  coast  to  California, 
where  the  bold  Aleuts  had  been  hunting  for  the  Russians  of  Bodega  bay. 
It  was  indeed  a  foreign  colony,  this  Russian  plantation  at  Ross,  and  the 
shiftless  Californians  had  not  the  ambition  or  energy  to  keep  the  Aleut 
hunters  out  of  San  Francisco  bay. 

All  this  was  in  the  first  period  of  Russian- A'nerican  occupa 
tion  ;  then  came  the  second  term,  and  after  that  we  have  Alaska  as  a 
United  States  colony.  The  American  government  buys  it  for  money. 
It  is  really  a  better  way  sometimes,  to  acquire  peaceable  title  to  lands  than 
to  fight  for  them. 

The  sale  was  a  good  one  for  Russia  ;  she  had  no  use  for  that  north- 
westernmost  knob  of  America,  while  the  United  States  could  not  only  turn 
an  honest  penny  in  the  trade,  but  secure  a  quiet  place  for  some  of  our  drunken 
politicians  to  cool  off  in,  which  indeed  was  done. 

There  are  many  resources,  however,  in  the  country,  fisheries, 
metal,  coal,  and  other  natural  wealth,  and  many  great  discoveries  yet  to 
be  made  in  that  quarter. 

This  volume  is  replete  with  interest  and  entertainment,  and 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  intelligent  person. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 

it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL. 
BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINE  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  -  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  -     7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  -   10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


OPINIONS 

"The  whole  story  Mr.  Bancroft  has  told  with  force  and  eloquence  and  impartiality." — 
British  Quarterly  Review. 

"His  style  is  energetic,  strong,  and  picturesque." — Boston  Journal. 

"We  hardly  know  which  to  admire  most,  the  marvellous  patience  and  perseverance  of 
the  author,  or  the  scholarly  learning  and  just  and  discriminating  judgment  which  is 
displayed. ' ' — Liverpool  Albion . 

"A  most  admirable  and  valuable  work,  in  the  preparation  of  which  material  has  been 
used  that  no  one  except  Mr.  Bancroft  has  been  able  to  collect  together." — Oregoman. 

"Splendid  yet  pathetic  story. "-N.    Y.  Herald. 

"A  fascinating  tale." — Vallejo  Chronicle. 

"The  bock  contains  a  wealth  of  information,  and  its  interest  is  quite  that  of  an  entranc 
ing  romance,  notwithstanding  the  severely  accurate  manner  in  which  the  author  deals 
with  his  subject." — Sentinel. 

"The  plan  sketched  is  magnificent  and  a  substantial  contribution  is  made  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  world." — Treasury,  London. 

"The  style  of  this  volume  is  that  simple,  nervous,  and  straightforward  one  which  Mr.  ( 
Bancroft  has  made  his  own." — New  York  Tribune. 

"In  this  separation  of  the  dry  and  profound  from  the  light  and  alluring,  his  style 
assumes  the  splendor  of  the  Augustan  historian,  or  the  dramatic  effectiveness  of  Macaulay, 
yet  without  his  partiality  and  hero  coloring." — Virginia  Territorial  Enterprise . 

"No  man  with  a  library,  or  with  the  nucleus  of  a  library,  especially  no  man  of  the 
west,  can  afford  to  be  without  this  history.  The  present  volume  is  a  block  in  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  important  historical  monuments  of  any  age  or  time." — Salt  Lake 
Tribune. 

"The  historian  is  so  absolutely  impartial  that  one  accepts  the  more  readily  his  decision 
in  the  case  of  conflicting  authorities.  He  seems  to  be  without  the  usual  prejudices  of 
race,  or  custom,  or  creed." — 5*.  F.  Chronicle. 

"Marvellous  exhibition  of  industry  and  patience  in  research,  as  well  as  judicious  dis 
crimination  in  the  use  of  material." — Boston  Traveller. 

"The  method  adopted  by  Mr.  Bancroft  plainly  offered  the  sole  practicable  solution  of 
the  problem. "—TV.  Y.  Sun. 

"A  distinguishing  merit  is  the  fine  discrimination  of  what  is  valuable  in  history,  and 
the  fine  order  and  arrangement  of  the  book." — Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

Though  Alaska  has  belonged  to  the  United  States  since  1867,  few  American  citizens 
know  more  about  it  than  they  do  about  the  Falkland  Islands. — Philadelphia  American. 

"The  present  volume  on  Alaska  shares  the  characteristics  of  its  predecessors,  with  the 
additional  attraction  of  a  vivid  presentation  of  facts  until  now  almost  wholly  unknown. 
Mr.  Bancroft's  book  comes  like  a  flashing  illumination  full  upon  a  region  lying 
hitherto  in  frozen  obscurity,  from  which  an  occasional  report  reaches  humanity  through 
a  magazine,  drear  and  dismal  as  its  remote  inhospitable  source.  But  our  knowledge  of 
our  Arctic  pos  ession  may  now  be  as  complete  as  that  of  any  part  of  the  republic. 
Absolute  accuracy  has  been  the  paramount  virtue  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  history  throughout, 
p::d  no  detail  or  statistic  is  too  trivial  to  assist  in  establishing  it  here.  The  abundance 
of  data  is  a  matter  of  amazement,  and  the  clearness  and  conclusiveness  of  its  appli 
cation  will  be  profoundly  gratifying  to  every  seeker  for  the  Alaskan  verities." — 
Washington  Post. 

"The  project  seems,  row,  to  have  been  no  less  well  considered  than  daring.  Especial 
good  judgment  has  been  shown  in  balancing  conflicting  authorities  and  in  drawing  a 
conclusion  from  disagreeing  witnesses.  Mooted  questions  are  discussed  with  such  a 
fulness  of  information  as  to  compel  assent  to  the  conclusions  cautiously  drawn." — N.  Y. 
Post- Nation.  , 

"No  one  has  yet  attempted,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  no  one  is  likely  to 
attempt,  to  compete  with  him  in  work  on  such  colossal  plans,  or  carried  through  with 
such  Napoleonic  enterprise.  The  resources  at  his  command,  the  employment  of  men, 
and  the  expenditure  of  money,  time,  labor,  scholarship,  and  far-reaching  investigation, 
are  beyond  anything  ever  known,  except  in  the  audacious  plan  on  which  this  work  is 
conducted." — New  York  Independent. 

'Tor  giving  unity  and  harmony  to  the  plan  by  wLich  a  chaotic  mass  of  material  was 
moulded  into  history,  the  author  has  earned  the  thanks  of  his  countrymen." — Popular 
Science  Monthly. 

"In  his  gratifying  the  desire  to  add  to  the  treasure-house  of  the  world's  knowledge,  we 
are  indebted  for  records  that  will  endure  as  long  as  this  country   has  a   history.     By 
training,  by  the  spirit  which  animates  him,  and  by  the  special  resources  at  his  command, 
Mr.  Bancroft  is  admirably  adapted  to  his  work." — Sacramento  Record-Union. 
Alaska    3 


"  Not  only   unequalled,   but  unapproached.      A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  ci   a    generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undestaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 


CALIFORNIA  PASTORAL 

Complete  in  i  vol.,  8vo. ,  808  pages 

By  HUBERT   HOWE   BANCROFT 

Probably  never  since  the  earth  was  made  has  there  existed  on  its  face 
just  such  a  phase  of  humanity  as  that  in  California  under  Spanish  and  Mex 
ican  regime.  First  there  were  the  Indians  pure  and  simple,  as  gentle 
savages  as  God  ever  placed  in  any  Eden,  inoffensive  wild  men  in  their  para 
disical  wilderness,  but  very  low,  very  earthy,  though  happy  as  angels. 
Among  these  first  came  Spaniards,  when  the  country  was  a  province  of  Spain 
— soldiers  and  priests,  mostly,  and  but  few  of  them  to  gain  the  ascendancy 
over  so  many  of  their  fellow-creatures;  then  Mexicans,  a  blood  mixture  of 
Spaniards  with  the  Indians  of  Mexico — christianized  savages  you  might  call 
them,  yet  citizens  of  republican  Mexico,  of  which  confederation  California 
was  then  the  north  westernmost  territory;  mix  with  these  a  few  Englishmen 
and  Americans,  traders,  trappers,  or  settlers  who  for  the  asking  could  have  a 
wife,  ten  leagues  of  land,  a  thousand  head  of  cattle,  twelve  or  twenty  chil 
dren,  and  the  catholic  religion,  all  free. 

They  lived  in  peace  and  plenty  for  the  most  part;  though  they  quar 
reled  some  and  sinned  some,  worked  a  little,  but  played  much  more. 

About  these  Pastoral  days,  before  the  gold-diggers  had  come  to 
hold  high  carnival  along  the  Sierra  foothills,  a  dozen  volumes  might  be 
written;  therefore  when  we  find  embodied  in  one  volume  all  the  best  of  what 
was  said,  all  most  interesting  of  what  was  done,  we  may  be  sure  of  the  value 
of  that  book,  and  of  the  immense  amount  of  instruction  and  enter 
tainment  it  contains. 

After  drawing  some  comparisons  between  civilization  and  savagism, 
particularly  between  the  then  half-civilized  Europeans  and  the  only  half- 
savage  natives  of  America,  where  in  some  respects  there  was  not  so  much 
difference  after  all,  the  colonial  policy  of  Spain,  which  to  say  the  least  was 
very  peculiar,  is  then  described,  and  the  condition  of  Mexico  as  it  appeared 

to  learned  foreigners  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 

• 

Then  we  come  to  the  lotos-land  of  the  savages,  that  beautiful,  glow 
ing  wilderness,  the  warm,  dreamy  home  of  the  shock-headed  savages.  Was 
there  a  paradise  of  nature  like  that  of  California  before  the  coming  in  of 
white  men  ? 

It  was  the  Golden  Age  of  California,  coming  just  before  and 
very  different  from,  the  Age'of  Gold.  It  was  not  only  an  age  of  romance, 
but  of  miracles,  and  no  end  of  them;  there  seemed  to  be  more  supernatural 
than  natural;  more  deities  and  demons  abroad  than  forces  of  nature.  The 
savages  had  their  miracles,  and  the  Europeans  had  theirs,  and  between  the 
two  there  was  little  other  explanation  for  the  current  of  events. 

And  when  we  come  to  the  new  life  and  society,  in  their  thousand 
varieties  and  phases,  evolved  from  these  hitherto  untried  intermixtures  and 
strange  conditions,  what  a  new  world  of  wonder  is  opened  to  us ! 


It  was  almost  like  having  things  in  common,  products  were  so  plen 
tiful  and  property  of  so  little  value.  Where  land  is  free,  fruits  almost  spon 
taneous,  and  the  rapid  increase  of  stock  attended  with  little  care  or  cost; 
especially  where  there  is  little  use  for  money  and  no  market  for  the  super 
abundance,  of  what  worth  is  wealth  ?  Not  only  land  but  laborers  were 
there,  kindly  made  ready  by  Providence  for  the  lash  of  civilization. 

So  it  came  about  that  when  a  handful  of  Spanish  missionaries  and 
military  men  came  along  up  the  coast  from  San  Diego  to  San  Francisco  bay, 
they  left  a  line  of  missions  in  their  track  the  remains  of  which  to-day  give 
proof  of  a  remarkable  achievement.     For  under  the  mighty  influenc 
of  gunpowder,  steel,  and  a  new  religion,  these  structures  were  reared  t> 
naked  savages,  whose  own  habitations  were  hitherto  but  little  more  tha. 
bowers,  brush  huts,  or  holes  in  the  ground. 

This  book  tells  all  about  how  these  people  lived ;  all 
about  woman  and  her  sphere ;  land-grants  and  the  pueblo  sys 
tem,  or  town  regulations ;  the  missions,  mission  life,  regulations,  and 
routine;  food,  dress,  dwellings,  and  domestic  affairs;  amusements,  occupa 
tions,  and  industries;  stock-raising,  and  cultivation  of  the  soil;  law,  govern 
ment,  and  religion;  presidios,  or  forts,  and  the  military  system;  inland  trade 
and  coast  traffic,  particularly  about  the  operations  of  smugglers, 
and  how  the  Mexican  officials  used  to  make  a  regular  buiness  of  cheating 
their  government-  -likewise  all  about  the  fur-trade  and  traffic  in  hides  and 
tallow;  also  about  crimes  and  courts,  where  was  some  queer  justice  admin 
istered. 

In  regard  to  all  these  things,  this  remarkable  volume  is  the 
result  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  life's  labor  in  this  part. of  his  field.  Without  the 
work  done  by  him  in  collecting  the  material  for  and  writing  his  history, 
this  book  never  could  have  had  existence.  The  immense  mass  of 
intensely  interesting  information  it  contains  is  absolutely  new, 
most  of  it  having  been  obtained  directly  from  the  mouths  of  white-haired 
Mexicans. 

A  chapter  on  banditti,  full  of  thrilling  interest,  and  every  word  true, 
is  alone  worth  twice  the  cost  of  the  volume. 

CONDITIONS — -The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular, 

PER  voi,. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH       .  -    $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE    -  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF  MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES    -  ,  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE    -        -        -        -  10  c 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Cat  Pa«t    2. 


SRECIIVtKN     OPINIONS 

"The  information  has  been  gathered  from  public  and  private  sources,  and  touches 
upon  every  topic,  law,  society,  religion,  government,  customs,  manners,  dress,  amuse 
ments,  etc.  Much  of  it  would  have  been  lost  to  the  world  but  for  the  extraordinary 
energy  of  Mr  Bancroft  in  sending  out  agents  and  securing  old  manuscripts  and  printed 
matter  that  had  been  cast  into  the  household  limbo  as  worthless.  This  material  has 
been  carefully  sifted,  and  all  that  throws  light  on  pastoral  days  in  California  from 
the  Spanish  occupation  down  to  the  discovery  of  gold  has  been  carefully  arranged  and 
woven  into  the  narrative.  The  result  is  the  most  complete  sketch  ever  written  of  Spanish 
California.  It  reads  almost  like  a  romance." — 5.  F.  Chronicle. 

"The  history  is  a  wonderful  production.  It  is  invaluable  to  libraries,  both  public 
and  private." — Ann  Arbor  Courier. 

"On  this  subject  he  has  done  himself  full  credit." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

"  Will  not  fail  to  captivate  the  general  reader  as  well  as  arrest  the  attention  of  the 
scholar. ' ' — A  Ibany  Times . 

"  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  present  volume  is  the  best  of  the  many  with  which  the 
American  historians  have  enriched  the  literary  world." — London  Morning  Post. 

"  We  are  brought  face  to  face  with  these  people,  with  their  flocks  and  herds,  their 
pastures  and  fields,  their  domestic  life,  their  amusements,  occupations,  and  industries, 
their  laws,  their  systems  of  government  and  religion." — Chicago  Dial. 

"  It  is  a  fine  analysis.''—^.  Y.  Herald. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  ably,  and,  on  the  whole,  justly  indicates  the  true  functions  of  the 
historian  who  essays  a  work  of  this  magnitude.  To  an  accurate  record  of  events,  he 
gives  its  due  place,  this  being  the  foundation  of  all  historical  writing ;  for  of  what  avail 
is  the  brilliancy  of  a  Macaulay  if  the  basis  of  his  eloquence  be  insecure  ?  Yet,  of  equal 
importance  with  events  is  the  institutionary  development  which  they  cause  or  accom 
pany.  Equal  study  must  be  given  to  men,  industries  and  institutions.  The  author 
appears  to  have  faithfully  adhered  to  the  plan  he  has  thus  laid  down  ;  and,  large  as  the 
work  is,  the  writing  is  far  from  verbose,  it  is,  indeed,  condensed  in  style,  and  admirable 
for  its  vigor  and  freshness." — London  Times. 

"  It  is  such  pen  pictures  as  these,  scattered  through  Mr  Bancroft's  histories,  that 
make  them  so  entertaining,  without  robbing  them  of  their  historical  value.  A  country 
as  full  of  romance  as  was  the  Pacific  Coast  in  its  early  days  should  have  no  less  fervid 
and  graphic  a  pen  than  Mr  Bancroft's  to  chronicle  and  srJread  before  the  readers  of  the 
future  that  history  with  due  attention  to  its  spurts  of  poetry  and  romance." — S.  F.  Wasp. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  narrative  might  well  be  adopted  as  a  text-book  in  colleges  and 
universities  for  the  strong  light  it  throws  upon  national  evolution." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"In  romantic  interest  the  book  has  a  marvellous' charm,  with  no  violation  of  the 
real,  a  brilliant  picture  with  no  unpardonable  overcolor." — Sac.  Record-Union. 

"  In  no  volume  that  Mr  Bancroft  has  written  has  he  woven  a  more  lively  interest 
than  in  this." — Boston  Home  Journal. 

"Prof.  Royce  takes  no  pains  to  conceal  his  generous  admiration  of  the  work  done 
by  Mr  Bancroft." — New  York  Independent. 

"  In  the  line  of  historical  research  his  work  has  no  parallel.  Of  the  volumes  cf 
manuscripts  and  printed  books  named,  all  are  either  in  the  possession  of  Mr  Bancroft 
or  have  been  used  by  him  in  the  preparation  of  his  work.  One  class  of  manuscripts 
secured  by  Mr  Bancroft  deserves  especial  mention  as  being  unique  in  character,  and 
those  are  dictations,  or  personal  reminiscences;  and  of  these  he  has  manv  hundreds." — 
Boston  Traveller. 

Cat.  Past.  3. 


"Not  only  unequalled,  but   unapproaciied.       A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  A  mencan  Review. 


CALIFORNIA  INTER  POCULA 

Complete  in  i  vol.,  8vo,  828  pages. 

BY  HUBERT   HOWE   BANCROFT 

If  one  were  to  spend  a  lifetime  in  making  a  magnificent  scrapbook, 
whose  contents  should  be  not  history,  nor  poetry,  nor  fiction,  nor  philosophy, 
but  the  essence  of  all  these,  and  much  more;  and  if,  further,  the  selections 
made  were  original  articles  from  writings  of  recognized  merit,  and  nowhere 
else  existing,  one  would  prize  such  a  collection  more  than  money. 

Such  is  this  volume,  with  the  difference  that  the  selections  have  been 
made  by  the  author,  thus  saving  the  reader  a  world  of  trouble.  Inter 
Pocula,  that  is,  as  applied  to  the  flush  times  of  California,  in  her  cups,  in 
other  words,  drunk — such  is  the  title  chosen  as  befitting  the  contents,  which 
consist  of  episodes  of  the  wild  doings  of  those  days,  some  of  them, 
indeed,  of  the  most  startling  character.  It  is  a  book  to  have  always  at 
hand,  and  dive  into  now  and  then,  its  pages  being  always  attractive,  and 
carrying  the  reader  along  with  ever  increasing  interest. 

A  brilliant  picture  of  the  valley  of  California  is  given  in  the 
first  chapter,  a  piece  of  word-painting  which  has  not  its  superior  in  the  Eng 
lish  language. 

There  was  wild  talk  about  gold  in  California  for  three  centuries  before 
it  was  actually  found  in  the  Sierra  foothills,  none  of  which  was  farther  from 
the  truth  than  that  of  the  pirate  Drake's  preacher.  It  is  not  a  little  singular 
that,  notwithstanding  all  the  lies  that  were  told  about  it,  all  the  while  the 
gold  was  there. 

Coming  to  the  period  of  actual  discovery,  the  author  has  gathered  here 
many  interesting  incidents  and  anecdotes  which  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
give  in  his  History  of  California,  where  condensed  narration  was  indispens 
able.  New  men  are  introduced,  and  analyses  made  of  the  others.  As  a 
pen  portrait,  true  to  nature  and  startling  in  its  originality,  that  of  Marshall, 
the  discoverer  of  gold,  cannot  be  excelled. 

No  small  portion  of  the  early  Californian's  time  was  taken  up  in  jour 
neys  from  and  to  the  east,  overland  and  by  water.  Of  life  and  labor  on  the 
various  routes  such  vivid  descriptions  are  given  as  to  make  them  stand  out 
as  upon  canvas  in  the  mind  and  imagination  of  the  reader.  There  is  the 
joyous  hum  of  the  camp  of  plenty,  and  the  low  wail  of  the  desert's  hardships; 
and  on  the  ocean  both  peaceful  and  tempestuous  times.  And  herein  are 
many  phases  of  life,  original,  and  nowhere  else  existing.  And  when  the 
land  of  gold  was  reached,  and  the  newcomer  entered  upon  the  scene  of 
classical  abnormities  in  the  mines,  what  limitless  areas  were  here  of  new  life, 


new  language,  new  heart  and  sense  and  soul!  There  was  not  a  mining 
camp,  not  a  man  even,  but  whose  experiences  would  fill  a  volume. 

San  Francisco,  with  its  rattle  and  din  of  business  and  pleasure,  its 
great  gambling  and  drinking  saloons,  its  gilded  dens  of  infamy  opening  upon 
filthy  streets,  its  auction  houses  and  marts  of  commerce,  is  fully  described. 
Then  follow  chapters  on  society  in  California,  further  abnormities,  and 
business  methods,  and  illustrations  of  life  and  character,  presenting  innum 
erable  incidents  and  scenes  nowhere  else  described. 

Some  account  of  Pacific  coast  prisons  is  given,  which  often  influ 
enced  in  a  large  degree  the  quality  of  justice  dealt  to  criminals.  Some 
Indian  Episodes  are  also  given,  which  the  author  regarded  as  of  alto 
gether  too  interesting  and  important  a  nature  to  be  omitted.  Some  Chinese 
Episodes  is  the  title  of  the  next  chapter,  wherein  is  given  an  account  of 
some  encounters  between  white  men  and  Asiatics. 

Courts  of  Justice  and  Court  Scenes  is  the  title  of  a  most  interest 
ing  and  amusing  chapter.  The  manners  and  customs  of  the  judges  are 
described,  and  their  behavior  amidst  the  surrounding  influences  of  rum  and 
revolvers  is  fully  set  forth. 

During  all  these  times  drinking  and  gambling,  causing  the  ruin  and 
death  of  thousands,  were  carried  on  everywhere,  and  a  chapter  is  devoted 
to  each  of  these  topics,  both  being  full  of  incidents  and  stories.  The  theory 
of  tippling  and  the  free  lunch  system  are  described;  also  the  typical  flush 
times  gambler,  gambling  games,  the  science  of  poker,  and  the  doctrine  of 
chance. 

A  chapter  is  devoted  to  duelling,  then  quite  common,  and  the  notable 
duels  of  the  period  are  given  in  detail.  L/ast  of  all,  gathered  into  a  final 
chapter,  are  some  tales  of  the  times,  all  characteristic  sketches,  and 
besides  the  entertainment  they  afford  are  valuable  as  studies. 

Altogether  this  is  a  most  unique  book,  whose  equal  can  scarcely  be 
found  in  literature.  Its  originality,  vivacity,  and  charms  of  style  clothe  the 
subject-matter  in  most  attractive  forms. 

CONDITIONS. — The  volume  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and 
neatly  and  substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the 
work  unless  it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


Cal.  I.  P.    2. 


OPINIONS 

"Mr  Bancroft  has  not  indulged  in  long-drawn  narratives  or  descriptions.  In  no 
part  of  his  series  has  his  system  of  rigid  condensation  been  more  strictly  applied  than 
here.  If  criticism  is  called  for,  it  is  that  he  has  not  made  his  published  record  even 
fuller  than  he  has  done.  Kis  unpublished  manuscripts  may  be  destroyed,  but  the  history 
is,  through  Mr  Bancroft's  series,  secure.  Such  a  wealth  of  material  relative  to  New 
England  could  it  now  be  secured  would  be  priceless.  Some  of  the  most  entertaining 
pages  in  this  volume  are  those  in  which  he  describes  the  primitive  courts." — Boston 
Traveller. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  is  never  wanting  when  either  adventure  or  war  is  to  be  described,  or 
the  motives  or  causes  that  led  up  to  the  incidents  are  to  be  analyzed.  He  has  a  quick 
insight  into  men  and  their  characteristic  tendencies.  Mr  Bancroft,  by  this  masterly 
work ,  justifies  all  the  hopes  that  his  History  of  the  Native  Races  of  America  excited.  He 
shows  not  only  learning  and  research,  and  rare  literary  power — grace  and  charm  of  style, 
without  extravagance  of  rhetoric — but  quick  sympathy,  together  wiih  great  independence 
and  impartiality  of  judgment.  He  follows  no  former  historian,  and  doubtless  will  lay 
himself  open  to  attack  by  the  freedom  with  which  he  handles  former  authorities.  Learn 
ing  lavs  no  weight  on  Mr  Bancroft's  narrative;  this  proceeds  as  lightly  as  thoufh  his 
course  had  not  been  impeded  by  the  difficulties  inseparable  from  original  research." — 
British  Quarterly  Review. 

"An  enthralling  and  deeply  interesting  narrative." — Galveston  News. 

"  It  is  throughout  as  cool  and  clear  a  chapter  of  scholarly  exposition  as  it  has  been 
our  good  fortune  to  see  for  many  a  day." — 5^  F.  Bulletin. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  has  pursued  a  most  scholarly  method  in  the  arrangement  of  his 
work.  He  is  conscientious  and  sagacious  in  his  balancing  of  authorities,  and  his  fre 
quent  classical  allusions  show  a  deep  study  of  ancient  and  modern  authors." — .S*.  F.  Post 

"  Mr  Bancroft  avoids  alike  the  dryness  of  a  mere  petty  chronicle  of  events,  and  the 
comparative  unsatisfactory  unreliability  of  a  historico-philosophical  essay." — Phil. 
Times. 

"America  may  well  be  proud  of  her  western  historian,  who  must  take  his  place  with 
the  foremost  of  the  age.  In  the  narrative  art  the  author  is  an  adept." — Sac.  Record- 
Union. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  account  of  the  early  surface  mining  is  as  interesting  as  a  fairy  tale, 
but  the  wonders  he  recounts  are  all  solid  facts.  Even  at  this  distance  of  time  the  reader 
will  find  it  difficult  to  go  quite  calmly  over  the  manifold  records  of  big  finds ;  of  how  this 
man  or  company  came  upon  a  nugget  weighing  ten  pounds,  and  how  another  lucky 
fellow  found  a  piece  of  twenty  pounds." — New  York  Tribune. 

"  It  is  full  of  the  most  curious  anecdotes." — S.  F.  Argonaut. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  has  kept  the  most  intensely  interesting  story  for  the  last." — Boston 
Home  Journal. 

"  The  author's  brilliant  and  picturesque  narration  will  attract  readers." — Hartford 
Courant. 

11  Not  a  dull  page  between  these  covers;  young  and  old  will  delight  in  it." — Pitts- 
burg  Telegraph. 

"  The  volume  is  a  painted  panorama  of  the  settlement  and  growth  of  California." — 
S.  F.  Wasp. 

11  The  multitude  of  men  yet  living  who  were  then  temporary  sojourners  in  California 
and  now  scattered  broadcast  over  the  world,  will  read  the  history  and  its  graphic  and 
complete  descriptions  with  profound  interest.  The  history  reads  more  like  a  romance 
than  real  history,  but  multitudes  of  men,  and  among  them  the  reviewer  of  the  book,  can 
attest  to  the  faithfulness  of  the  historian  to  the  conditions  of  society  in  California  that 
made  such  history  possible." — Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"That  fulness  of  information  and  infinite  variety  of  incident  and  illustration  that 
mark  the  series  as  a  whole  are  perhaps  nowhere  so  strongly  shown  as  here.  It  is  a  most 
inviting  theme.,  A  chapter  on  bibliography  is  a  striking  example  of  the  vast  resources 
at  the  command  of  Mr  Bancroft,  and  his  immense  accumulation  of  original  material." 
—  The  Dial. 

"  This  important  and  exhaustive  Work  is  a  monument  of  diligent  research  and  inves 
tigation." — London  Times. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  fills  his  pages  with  picturesque  details.  He  writes  of  the  actors  with 
warmth  and  life.  He  is  not  afraid  to  express  decided  opinions  in  strong  terms,  to  plead 
ca-nestly  for  what  he  considers  the  right,  and  to  lashinjustice  and  inhumanity,  weakness 
and  falsehood,  with  bitter  words." — N.  Y.  Sun. 

Cal.  I.  P.    3. 


"  Not  only   unequalled,   but  unapproached.     A  literary  enterprise   more   deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review, 

POPULAR  TRIBUNALS 

Complete  in  2  vols.,  8vo.,    1,542  pages,  with  Plans  and  Illustrations 

By  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 

Here  is  a  book  of  surpassing  interest,  and  no  less  instructive  than 
entertaining.  Its  graphic  delineation  of  the  attempts  of  communities  of 
men  to  govern  themselves  without  laws,  or  in  defiance  of  ill-administered  law, 
is  something  new  in  the  literature  of  the  world. 

In  the  history  of  mankind  there  are  but  few  startling  or  abnor 
mal  episodes,  as  compared  with  the  long  level  of  monotony  which,  what 
soever  fermentations  there  may  be  within,  seems  never  to  rise  into  the  realm 
of  progress  nor  sink  into  retrogression.  Before  California  was,  there  had 
been  gold,  and  men  had  learned  to  love  it,  and  to  rush  hither  and  thither 
over  the  earth  in  search  of  it;  there  had  been  governments,  and  rebel 
lions,  and  revolutions ;  there  had  been  pronunciamientos  made  by  men 
not  particularly  opposed  to  the  existing  form  of  rule,  but  who  highly 
esteemed  themselves  and  their  way  of  viewing  affairs,  and  who  preferred 
themselves  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  their  country. 

But  never  since  the  world  began  has  there  been  nor  ever  again  until 
its  end  will  there  be  just  such  aberrations  of  government  and  jus 
tice  as  were  experienced  by  the  several  states  and  territories  on  the  Pacific 
side  of  North  America  during  the  period  of  their  incubation,  namely,  for 
the  decade  of  1849  to  1859.  Simply  hanging  culprits  by  the  people  for 
killing  or  stealing  was  by  no  means  all  of  the  solemn  significance  of  the 
times.  There  was  here  present  revolution  without  rebellion,  right 
without  codes  or  constitutions,  displaying  at  once  the  necessity  of  man  and 
the  power  of  man  to  place  checks  upon  his  actions,  and  not  let  his  wonder 
ful  and  much-boasted  intellectual  faculties,  which  raise  him  so  high  above 
the  brute  creation,  hurl  him  to  a  deeper  destruction. 

The  study  of  the  subject,  when  begun  by  the  author,  was  with 
the  intention  of  its  making  two  or  three  chapters  of  his  History  of  Califor 
nia;  but  as  the  work  went  on,  time  passed  and  the  manuscript  piled  high 
before  him.  To  be  done,  or  half-done,  or  scarcely  done  at  all  was  the  ques 
tion.  When  the  existing  bulky  printed  matter  had  been  gone  over  and  the 
acts  and  experiences  of  all  the  leading  men  in  such  affairs  then  living  had 
been  hunted  up,  secured,  digested,  arranged,  and  written  out,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  voluminous  secret  archives  of  the  many  Committees  of  Vigilance  in 
various  parts,  years  had  passed,  and  three  volumes  had  been  written.  The 
three  volumes,  however,  were  in  time  reduced  to  two,  and  the  arrangement 
of  chapters  made  so  as  to  bring  together  the  earlier  and  minor  episodes  of 
California  and  the  surrounding  region  for  the  first  volume,  leaving  the  sec 
ond  volume  entire  for  San  Francisco's  grand  tribunal  of  1856,  with  a 
concluding  chapter  only  on  the  labor  organization  of  1877-8. 

But  before  the  Vigilance  Committee  of  1856  was  the  Vigilance  Com 
mittee  of  1851,  the  latter  being  organized  for  protection  against  thieves  and 
murderers,  and  the  former  against  political  and  judicial  offenders. 

The  Hounds  Association,  which  would  now  be  called  a  band  of 
hoodlums,  was  a  cooperation  in  crime  which  for  a  time  kept  the  town  in 
terror.  Nor  were  the  San  Francisco  Society  of  Regulators  much  better. 
Lawless  power  is  a  dangerous  thing  by  whatsoever  name  called.  Never 
theless,  before  the  advent  of  law  in  California  there  was  less  lawlessness 


than  prior  to  that  event,  when  thieves  from  Australia  had  not  yet 
come  in,  and  every  man  was  on  his  good  behavior.  But  presently  moboc- 
racy  in  the  mines  became  very  common;  and,  indeed,  something  of  the 
kind  was  necessary,  provided  people  were  going  to  remain  there. 

There  are  many  exciting  stories  given  in  Vol.  I :  The  Burdue- 
Stuart  affair;  the  capture  and  hanging  of  John  Jenkins;  the  rise  and  fall  of 
James  Stuart;  and  the  Whittaker  and  McKenzie  capture,  imprisonment,  trial, 
and  execution.  All  this  time  the  tribunal  held  its  secret  meetings,  accounts  of 
which  Mr.  Bancroft  fully  gives. 

Then  minor  rascalities  are  described,  and  the  doings  of  country 
committees  of  vigilance  are  delineated.  Indeed,  the  principle  of 
vigilance  extended  throughout  the  entire  western  slope.  Wherever  gold 
was,  and  that  without  law,  there  were  murder,  robbery,  and  wild  excite 
ment. 

The  troubles  of  1856  in  San  Francisco,  to  which  the  second  volume 
is  devoted,  arose  primarily  from  the  stuffing  of  ballot-boxes,  an  account 
of  which  is  given  in  Chapter  I.  In  fact  the  town  was  full  of  political  villains 
at  that  time,  whom  it  was  impossible  to  convict  of  any  crime,  as  some  of 
their  number  were  always  inspectors  of  election  and  judges  on  the  bench. 

James  King  of  William  undertook  to  make  war  on  them  with  his  news 
paper,  and  was  shot  down  in  the  street.  The  townspeople  then  flew 
to  arms,  and  his  murderer  was  hanged.  This  was  in  May,  and  the  greatest 
excitement  continued  throughout  the  year.  State  and  federal  authorities 
threatened  the  city  with  destruction,  and  members  of  the  law  and  order 
party  fumed  and  foamed  at  the  mouth. 

There  were  several  trials,  quite  a  number  sent  out  of  the  country  and 
some  hanging  done;  but,  after  all,  though  the  popular  demonstration  in 
San  Francisco  at  that  time  was  the  largest  of  the  kind  and  for  the  purpose 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  the  executions  were  insignificant  as  compared  with 
those  which  occurred  later  in  Idaho  and  Montana. 

After  all  was  over,  and  the  citizens  rested  from  their  labors,  the  Vigi 
lance  Committee,  then  numbeiing  eight  or  ten  thousand  members;  held  a 
grand  parade,  at  which  the  whole  city  were  present.  There  were  several 
heavy  lawsuits  brought  against  the  leaders  by  the  expatriated,  but  nothing 
came  of  it  further  than  the  annoyances  of  litigation. 

The  book  is  a  remarkable  record  of  a  remarkable  episode. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  the  author  could  prevail  upon  the  custodians  of  the 
nrchives  to  give  them  up  to  him,  for  fear  of  evil  consequences  to  the  mem- 
b  -rs  of  the  Executive  Committee;  but  he  finally  overcame  their  scru 
ples,  and  obtained  their  permission  to  give  their  transactions  to  the 
world.  An  account  of  all  that  was  done  is  contained  in  these  two  vol 
umes,  and  exists  nowhere  else. 

Every  intelligent  man  who  has  a  library  or  reads  a  book  should  have 
in  his  possession  these  two  volumes. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PICK  VOL. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $  4.50 

BOUND  IN  FINE)  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE       -  5.50 

BOUND  IN  HALF  MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7.00 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE      -  10.00 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS,  SAN  FRANCISCO.  CAL. 

Pop.  Trib.     2 


SPECIMEN     OPINIONS 

"  Mr  Bancroft  seldom  appears  to  greater  advantage  than  when  bringing  order  out 
of  confusion." — N.  Y.  Herald, 

"In  all  respects  these  volumes  fulfill  the  high  promise  of  the  prospectus,  and  the 
expectations  of  tbe  scholarly  world." — S.  F.  Post. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  is  the  most  frank  and  intrepid  of  historians,  and  tells  the  unvarnished 
truth  as  it  appears  to  him  without  respect  of  persons." — S.  F.  Wasp. 

"  Op ?ns  something  like  a  new  chapter  to  the  .itudents  of  political  science." — New 
York  Independent. 

"  Will  be  regarded  as  remarkable  in  ages  to  come." — Sacramento  Record- Union. 

"  That  it  has  been  accomplished  by  one  man,  no  matter  what  his  facilities  may  have 
been,  is  most  wonderful." — Salt  Lake  Tribune. 

"  These  volumes  more  and  more  attest  Mr  Hubert  Bancroft's  power  as  a  master  in 
narrative." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

"  This  naturally  directs  attention  to  the  work  as  a  whole,  and  to  the  marvellous 
exhibition  of  industry  and  patience  in  historical  research,  as  well  as  to  the  judicious 
discrimination  in  the  use  of  material,  which  Mr  Bancroft  has  shown  from  the  inception 
of  his  task  down  to  the  present  time." — Boston  Traveller. 

"  The  labor  of  research  undertaken  by  Mr  Bancroft  would  appear  to  have  been 
commenced  at  a  most  opportune  period.  Ten  years  earlier  the  obligations  of  seen  cy 
were  so  fresh  that  no  revelation  could  be  expected ;  ten  years  later  the  chie*"  actors 
were  off  the  stage.  He  has  been  specially  fortunate  in  recovering  the  archives  of  the 
San  Francisco  Committee  of  1851,  and  of  the  still  more  voluminous  records  of  the 
great  revived  organization  of  1856.  Of  the  first,  many  curious  fac-similes  are  given  in  the 
new  volume.  The  later  documents  will  naturally  come  up  for  discussion  in  a  future 
addition  to  this  engrossing  series  of  Pacific  States  history.  This  particular  portion  of 
the  Pacific  series  promises  to  be  of  the  wid  st  and  most  permanent  interest.  Mr  Ban 
croft  merits  very  high  praise." — Glasgow  Herald. 

"It  was  a  desperate  remedy  for  an  enormous  evil,  and  the  sound  judgment  and 
self-restraint  with  which  it  was  carried  out  attest  the  fact  that  even  in  a  community 
drawn  together  only  by  the  hope  of  sudden  riches,  into  which  the  vilest  elements 
naturally  flow,  as  waste  into  a  public  sewer,  there  is  always  a  saving  remnant.  The 
work  is  one  of  great  interest,  telling  the  story  as  it  does  of  an  event  which  has  a  lesson 
not  without  its  value  at  the  present  day." — Portland  Transcript. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  has  carried  out  his  work  in  the  most  complete  and  exhaustive  man 
ner.  Rarely  has  a  story  of  more  exciting  interest  been  told.  The  records  of  violence 
and  villainy  with  which  the  earlier  years  of  California  history  are  associated,  probably 
surpass  anything  of  a  similar  nature  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  The  rush  for  gold 
brought  together  hordes  of  desperadoes,  and  many  adventurers  from  Australia  con 
tributed  to  the  foundation  of  a  community  remarkable  for  disregard  of  law  and  life. 
That  the  government  officials  were  unable  to  cope  with  the  continuous  stream  of  outrage, 
robbery,  and  murder  which  ran  with  such  terrible  force,  is  not  to  be  marvelled  at,  and 
however  objectionable  may  be  the  system  of  personal  control  of  justice  assumed  by 
indignant  citizens,  at  least  it  showed  that  there  was  a  large  section  of  society  that  cared 
for  good  behavior  and  the  maintenance  of  public  morality,  and  that  had  the  courage 
and4 ability  to  supply,  even  without  legal  authorit}',  the  deficiencies  of  national  adminis 
tration  in  the  prevention,  detention,  and  summary  punishment  of  crime." — London 
Morning  Post. 

"  It  is  a  perfect  storehouse  of  historical,  antiquarian,  and  geographical  knowledge, 
gathered  from  State  Archives  and  from  the  most  recondite  sources,  and  exhaustive  in 
regard  to  the  various  countries  dealt  with.  It  is  a  treasure  garnered  for  future  genera 
tions,  and  the  writer  who  completes  such  a  literary  feat  as  this  deserves  credit  for 
unwearied  patience,  for  a  bold  conception,  and  for  colossal  enterprise.  Many  English 
and  American  writers  of  eminence,  including  Carlyle,  Herbert  Spencer,  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  Sir  Arthur  Helps,  J.  W.  Draper,  W.  H.  Lecky  and  J.  Russell  Lowell,  have 
already  testified  to  the  value  of  Mr  Bancroft's  historical  labors.  As  regards  the  present 
work,  as  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge,  it  is  marked  neither  by  slovenliness  of  treatment 
nor  by  an  inadequate  handling  of  the  vast  mass  of  material  collected  by  or  on  behalf  of 
the  author.  The  style  is  vivid  and  yet  weighty,  and  we  congratulate  Mr  Bancroft  upon 
the  life  he  has  infused  into  the  dry  bones  of  history." — London  Times. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  has  presented  the  records  of  the  famous  Vigilants  with  his  customary 
minuteness  and  painstaking  fidelity,  and  the  result  is  an  interesting  history  of  those 
strange  and  exciting  days." — Boston  Pilot. 

"  This  work  forms  a  very  important  epoch  in  the  history  of  California  and  other 
Pacific  States,  and  it  reads  with  all  the  interest  of  a  romance.  The  historian  has  spared 
neither  time  nor  the  most  patient  research  in  preparing  the  work,  and  for  the  first  time 
to  any  one  the  secrets  of  the  Vigilance  Committee  were  unsealed  to  him,  after,  in  earnest 
council,  they  had  carefullv  deliberated  upon  the  matter,  and  nsreed  that  all  information 
needed  should  be  place-1  r.t  Mr  Bancroft's  disposal." — Boston  Home  Journal. 

Pop.  Trib.  ". 


"  Not  only   unequalled,   but   uiiapproached.       A  literary  enterprise   more   deserving    of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 

Essays  and  Miscellany 

Complete  in  i  vol.,  8vo.,  765  pages 

By  HUBERT  HOWE   BANCROFT 

During  the  progress  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  historical  studies,  many  impor 
tant  questions  regarding  literature,  society,  and  civilization  passed 
under  his  notice,  upon  which  he  was  forced  to  bestow  more  or  less  thought, 
and  draw  conclusions.  His  views  of  men  and  events  were  in  many  respects 
from  a  new  standpoint;  and  bringing  to  his  work,  as  he  did,  a  mind  singu 
larly  untrammeled  by  any  of  the  dogmas  of  the  day,  political  or  social,  his 
opinions  are  entitled  to  the  most  attentive  consideration. 

Take  for  example  the  opening  essay  of  the  volume,  entitled  "  The 
Early  American  Chroniclers."  How  few  are  in  the  habit  of  rightly 
regarding  the  foundations  of  American  history,  neither  holding  them  in 
universal  credence,  nor  yet  placing  upon  them  too  light  an  estimation.  We 
have  here  elucidated  in  all  particulars  how  they  should  be  received,  in  what 
manner  construed,  and  how  far  believed. 

The  next  topic  is  "  The  New  Civilization,"  wherein  is  dis 
cussed  the  apparent  tendency  of  the  present  remarkable  development.  The 
earth,  having  been  spanned  by  civilization,  at  its  western  limit  a  halt  is 
enforced,  and  the  race  is  called  upon  to  work  out  here  its  highest  destiny.  To 
turn  back  would  be  but  retrogression,  with  worn-out  conditions;  there  are 
no  more  original  fields  to  be  reclaimed  from  savagism,  no  farther  west  for  the 
emigration  of  the  ages.  The  question  is  pregnant  with  thought,  it  is  forced 
upon  us;  Europe  without  an  America  and  an  Australia  into  which  to  pour 
its  surplus  populations  will  be  quite  a  different  affair  from  what  it  has  been 
with  these  outlets;  and  what  will  America  do  when  she  becomes  like  Europe? 

4 'Root  Diggers  and  Gold  Diggers"  is  the  title  of  certain 
hypothetical  meditations  of  a  philosophic  savage  on  beholding  the  bearded 
miners  delving  in  the  river  bottom  for  gold.  His  reflections  are  cut  short 
by  a  bullet  from  the  rifle  of  one  of  the  men  who  had  lost  his  horse,  and  fan 
cied  some  redskin  must  have  stolen  it. 

"Our  Treatment  of  the  Native  Races"  was  written  at  the 
request  of  an  Eastern  review  editor,  and  attracted  much  attention. 

"  History  Writing  "  is  a  subject  upon  which  few  can  speak  more 
intelligently  than  the  author  of  the  Pacific  States  series.  What  constitutes 
history  and  what  are  annals ;  how  to  weigh  evidence  and  measure  men; 
how  to  strip  oneself  from  the  prejudices  of  birth,  education,  and  environ 
ment — these  and  similar  questions  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of  exact  histori 
cal  narration. 

So  with  regard  to  "Criticism,"  how  little  of  it  is  truly  logical, 
how  much  of  it  is  simply  cant,  ignorance,  and  insincerity!  Yet  it  is  a  neces 
sity,  if  for  nothing  else  to  prevent  extinction  from  the  inundation  of  worth 
less  books  by  which  the  world  is  flooded. 

The  essay  on  "  Work  "  was  written  at  the  solicitation  of  a  literary 
friend,  who  published  it  in  a  volume  of  miscellaneous  subjects  which  he 
edited. 

"Battre  la  fer  sur  1'Enclume  "  is  the  title  of  a  dissertation 
on  success  and  failure,  which  the  author  contends  may  be  to  a  certain  extent 


reduced  to  rules,  like  any  other  principle  of  sociology,  the  sum  of  which  is 
for  each  to  find  his  proper  place  and  do  his  best  in  it. 

For  the  study  of  "  Social  Analysis  "  there  is  no  more  fitting  field 
than  this  western  world.  Hither  came  from  all  parts  humanity  at  its  best, 
and  from  this  alembic  of  nations  was  distilled  the  material  for  the  new  civil 
ization. 

An  examination  of  the  component  parts  of  Californian  character  is 
presented  under  the  heading  "  Nation  Making."  A  remarkable  trans 
formation  of  mind,  belief,  habits  of  thought  and  action  took  place  in  thou 
sands  of  those  who  came  hither,  under  the  influence  of  their  new  and  strange 
surroundings.  It  is  a  profitable  and  interesting  study. 

In  "Two  Sides  of  a  Vexed  Question"  the  author  presents  a 
remarkably  clear  and  logical  exposition  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages 
to  America  of  foreign  immigration,  African,  Asiatic,  and  European.  Being 
unbiased  and  absolutely  fearless,  Mr.  Bancroft  presents  the  Chinese  problem 
entirely  free  from  that  special  pleading  usually  attending  its  discussion. 

"The  Jury  System,"  as  at  present  existing,  is  a  question  upon 
which  various  opinions  are  held,  few  of  which  can  be  of  more  value  than 
Mr.  Bancroft's. 

No  description  of  "  Mongolianism  in  America"  in  any  way 
compares  in  realistic  detail  and  artistic  finish  with  the  essay  of  Mr.  Ban 
croft's  contained  in  this  volume.  It  is  lifelike,  amusing,  and  reliable,  being 
the  result  of  personal  observation  and  long  study. 

"  Money  and  Monopoly"  are  discussed  with  a  view  of  showing 
some  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  enormous  wealth  and  power 
to  society. 

After  this  comes  several  chapters  on  the  literature  of  the  Pacific 
States,  exhaustive  of  a  subject  never  before  attempted.  The  divisions  are 
"Literature  of  Central  America,"  "Literature  of  Colonial 
Mexico,"  "Literature  of  Mexico  During  the  Present  Century 
and  Early  California  Literature."  These  chapters  are  the  result 
of  a  lifetime  of  study  and  observation. 

Last  of  all  comes  "Plato  Revised,"  being  a  modern  imaginary 
dialogue  by  Plato,  Socrates,  Crito,  Apollodorus,  and  other  ancients  in  their 
hades  home.  Matters  upon  the  earth,  and  above  the  earth  are  freely  dis 
cussed,  and  comments  made.  This  is  one  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  most  masterly 
efforts. 

Further  comment  on  this  volume  is  unnecessary;  it  should  lie  upon 
the  table  of  every  American. 

CONDITIONS  — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

P2R  VOI,. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH  $4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINK  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF-MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE  10  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

Essays  &  Mis.     2. 


SPECIMEN    OPINIONS 

"  An  excellent  example  of  a  kind  of  work  which  only  a  true  historian  could  do.  The 
volume  is  worthy  of  its  author's  reputation — a  monument  of  industry,  of  care  and  grasp, 
and  philosophical  penetration." — British  Quarterly  Review, 

"Those  who  have  followed  Mr  Bancroft  in  his  noble  literary  undertaking  have 
learned  to  trust  both  his  learning  and  his  judgment.  No  author  of  this  or  any  former 
period  has  undergone  so  rigid  a  discipline,  and  few  have  chown  so  strong  a  faculty  for 
arranging  facts,  coupled  with  so  trustworthy  a  discrimination  and  sense  of  proportion." 
—N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"  Mooted  questions  are  discussed  with  such  a  fullness  of  information  as  to  compel 
assent  to  the  cautious  conclusions  drawn." — N.  Y.  Post. 

'*  I  am  amazed  at  the  extent  and  minuteness  of  your  researches." — William  Cullen 
Bryant. 

"  What  strikes  me  most  in  it  is  the  exceeding  fairness  with  which  he  treats  the 
researches  and  the  theories  of  other  inquirers  into  subjects  akin  to  hie  own." — Sir  Arthur 
Helps. 

*         "  Your  work  has  taught  me  a  great  many  things.     It  needs  no  praise  from  me.     It 
will  be  consulted  and  read  centuries  after  you  are  gone." — -Jno.  W.  Draper. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  manner  is  calculated  to  give  us  confidence." — London  Saturday 
Review. 

"Mr  Bancroft's  motto  is 'Thorough.'  His  mind  is  of  the  German  cast." — Charles 
Nordhoff. 

11  Magnificent  work."— Charles  Darwin.  BANCROFT  I_,B*A*Y 

"  Exceedingly  interesting  and  important." — Thomas  Carlyle. 

"It  is  worthy  of  special  attention  by  the  historical  student  and  the  general 
reader." — Boston  Globe. 

"  A  more  interesting  book  has  seldom  been  put  in  our  hands,  containing  a  mine  of 
information  of  which  we  confess  we  were  utterly  ignorant." — Land  and  Water, 
London. 

"  The  Macaulay  of  the  West."—  Wendell  Phillips. 

4<  It  is  simply  fascinating." — Clarence  King. 

"  An  interesting  work,  conveying  great  profit  and  instruction." — Sir  John  Lub- 
bock. 

"  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  has  not  occurred  in  the  literary  history  of  the  United 
States  a  more  piquant  surprise." — Scribner's  Monthly. 

11  His  style  is  always  clear  and  concise,  often  graphic  and  picturesque,  without 
attempting  sensational  effects.  Hie  power  of  analyzing  events,  as  well  as  characters, 
cannot  be  denied;  and  his  ability  of  constructing  a  consecutive  narrative  out  of  a  chaos 
of  incoherent  material  betrays  unusual  literary  skill." — New  York  Times. 

"  The  work  has  no  parallel  in  literature.," — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

"  His  style  is  clear  and  without  affectation,  recalling  the  straightforward  simplicity 
of  Herodotus." — London  Westminster  Review. 

"  He  writes  well  and  gracefully." — JV.  Y.  Sun. 

"  I  am  full  of  admiration  at  the  immense  reading  it  displays,  and  at  the  singular, 
vivid  and  graceful  English  in  which  that  reading  is  expressed." — W.  H.  Lecky. 

"  The  work  is  intensely  interesting.  Mr  Fincroft's  style  is  clear,  his  arrangement 
of  materials  judicious,  and  his  symmetry  admirable." — Chicago  Journal. 

"  Striking  passages  are  welded  together  with  a  logical  cohesion  so  strict  that  it  in 
almost  impossible  to  detach  them."—  N.  Y.  Herald. 

"  I  am  particularly  pleased  with  the  sharp,  condensed  form  in  which  the  facts  are 
given." — Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  style  deserves  great  commendation." — S.  F.  Btilletin. 

"  The  information  has  been  digested  into  a  flowing  and  entertaining  narrative  " — 
N.  Y.  Observer. 

"  Clear,  concise,  forcible,  and  well  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  modern  stu 
dents." — Overland  Monthly. 

"  Here  is  that  close  minuteness  of  research,  fullness  of  detail,  and  firmness  in  tone 
which  makes  his  work  the  standard  authority  on  whatever  field  it  touches.  Many 
ext-acts  might  be  conveniently  given  as  examples  of  the  author's  chastened  elegance  of 
style,  as  well  as  the  judiciousness  of  his  reflections." — Glasgow  Herald. 

Essays.    3. 


"  Not  only   unequalled,   but  unapproached.     A  literary  enterprise  more  deserving  of  a  generous 
sympathy  and  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 


LITERARY  INDUSTRIES 

Complete  in  i  vol.,  8vo.,  808  pages,  with  Illustrations  and  Plans 

By  HUBERT  HOWE   BANCROFT 

We  have  here  the  life-story  of  an  earnest  worker  ;  of  one  who 
labored  with  all  his  strength  throughout  a  long  and  honorable  career  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  most  important  undertaking.  It  was  not  for  increase 
of  wealth,  or  fame,  or  any  personal  consideration  that  he  spent  his  time  and 
fortune,  but  to  perform  a  work  which  no  one  else  would  undertake,  and 
which  he  deemed  of  paramount  importance  to  the  country  and  to 
civilization. 

What  was  this  work  ?  It  was  nothing  less  than  to  gather  and  pre 
serve  for  the  present  and  future  generations,  for  all  mankind  throughout  all 
ages,  the  fast-fading  knowledge  of  the  early  affairs  of  the  western  half 
of  North  America  from  Panama  to  Alaska,  including  all  of  Mexico 
and  Central  America. 

And  it  was  in  the  very  nick  of  time  that  he  came  to  this  rescue.  A 
few  years  earlier,  and  not  all  of  the  vast  territory  covered  would  have  had 
the  materials  for  its  history  complete;  a  few  years  later,  and  the  material 
would  have  been  lost,  a  large  portion  of  the  knowledge  of  our  early  history, 
with  the  men  who  made  it,  having  passed  into  oblivion. 

As  it  is,  look  at  the  results  !  It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive 
of  their  importance.  This  broad  domain,  equivalent  to  one-twelfth  of  the 
earth's  surface,  and  upon  which  empires  are  to  be  built  and  the  greatest 
problems  of  humanity  to  be  worked  out,  owing  to  the  self-sacrificing  efforts 
of  this  one  man  has  more  material  for  its  early  history  than  any  other  state, 
nation,  or  people  in  existence  ever  has  had  or  can  have.  Over  a  million 
of  dollars  he  spent  in  ransacking  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  for  all 
information  relative  to  the  subject,  and  thirty  years  of  time  in  putting  that 
knowledge  in  such  a  form  as  would  make  it  available  to  the  world. 

In  brief,  he  gathered  a  library  of  50,000  volumes,  books,  man 
uscripts,  maps,  of  the  rarest  and  most  inestimable  value;  then  for  its  accom 
modation  and  safety  he  erected  a  brick  building  on  Valencia  street,  San 
Francisco,  and  placed  his  Library  therein;  finally  he  organized  a  corps  of 
assistants,  and  set  himself  at  work  to  extract  and  impart  this  knowledge  in 
the  form  of  a  series  of  full  and  complete  histories  of  the  several  coun 
tries  covering  this  vast  field. 

Such  a  work  was  never  before  performed  by  mortal  man; 

and  this  volume  is  a  history  of  that  work.  It  gives  in  the  author's  own 
words,  which  come  strong  and  glowing  from  the  heart,  his  early  life 
struggles, .  not  alone  with  his  environment,  but  with  himself,  showing  the 
engendering  conditions  which  made  him  what  he  was.  It  tells  of  his  boy 
hood  life  and  aspirations;  his  struggles  with  the  restricting  influences  of  his 
surroundings;  the  necessity  he  saw  of  money  in  the  accomplishment  of  any 
great  purpose,  and  how  he  resolved  to  make  it ;  his  choice  between 
college  and  business;  his  leaving  home,  learning  to  be  a  bookseller;  how  he 
was  sent  by  his  employer  while  yet  a  boy  to  open  a  bookstore  in  California, 


and  his  experiences  there;  how  he  soon  became  interested  in  the  history  of 
the  country,  and  set  himself  about  saving  from  destruction  the  price 
less  material ;  how  he  hunted  the  world  over,  America  and  Europe,  for 
books  and  manuscripts,  and  how  he  and  men  whom  he  employed  saw  thou 
sands  of  the  old  men  and  pioneers  in  the  various  sections  of  the  territory, 
and  gathered  from  them  their  experiences,  writing  them  down,  and  placing 
them  in  a  proper  state  for  preservation  throughout  all  time.  "  What 
would  not  Massachusetts  give  for  such  a  collection  !  "  exclaimed 
Charles  Francis  Adams. 

Is  not  a  life  record  like  this  worth  perusing  ?  Is  there  no  instruction 
in  it,  no  entertainment,  nothing  to  learn  which  one  can  profit  by  ?  The 
methods  forced  upon  Mr.  Bancroft  for  his  adoption  in  writing  his  histories, 
and  which  he  explains  most  simply  and  modestly,  are  of  surpassing 
interest  and  importance.  They  come  like  an  inspiration,  and  are  des 
tined,  as  they  become  known,  to  bring  about  a  revolution  in  all  great  literary 
undertakings. 

Indeed,  there  is  not  a  bit  of  egotism  displayed  in  any  part  of  the 
volume.  It  is  an  unconsciousness  of  his  own  merit  in  an  intellectual 
achievement  which  has  not  its  parallel  in  the  history  of  literature  that  lends 
a  charm  to  the  volume.  All  through  it  the  author  seems  to  regard  himself 
as  but  the  humble  instrument  in  the  accomplishment  of  a  great  work,  a  work 
which  men  of  future  ages  will  appreciate  and  extol  more  than  those  now 
living. 

What  are  the  slaughterings  of  war  or  the  amassing  of  millions  of 
wealth  beside  the  gathering  and  husbanding  of  priceless  knowledge — not 
simply  to  possess  and  hoard,  but  for  the  benefit  of  all  mankind 
throughout  all  ages! 

Mr.  Bancroft's  writings  have  passed  into  the  world's  literature,  where 
they  will  forever  hold  their  place.  As  cities  and  empires  continue  to  be 
reected  on  the  land  whose  history  he  has  in  so  large  a  degree  rescued  from 
decay,  and  the  experiences  of  whose  pioneers  and  patriots  he  has  so  hap 
pily  delineated,  his  volumes  will  possess  an  ever  increasing  value.  Surely 
this  graphic  record  of  such  exceptional  efforts,  resulting  in  such  important 
additions  to  the  world's  historical  knowledge  and  literary  experi 
ences  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  person,  old  and  young.  It  is  the 
Robinson  Crusoe  of  letters. 

CONDITIONS — The  book  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  neatly  and 
substantially  bound.  Subscribers  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless 
it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

PER  VOL. 

BOUND  IN  EXTRA  ENGLISH  CLOTH       -  $  4  50 

BOUND  IN  FINE  LEATHER,  LIBRARY  STYLE     -  5  50 

BOUND  IN  HALF  MOROCCO,  CLOTH  SIDES    -  7  oo 

BOUND  IN  FULL  MOROCCO,  GILT  EDGE    -  -     TO  oo 

THE  HISTORY  COMPANY, 

PUBLISHERS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

IJt.  Ind. 


SPKCIIVIKN  OPINIONS 

"The  Herbert  Spencer  of  historians." — Boston  Journal. 

"He  has  adopted  the  only  course  ofcen  to  a  wise  man  dealing  with  such  masses  of 
varied  facts  as  he  has  to  arrange  and  explain." — Philadelphia  Times. 

"Mr  Bancroft  has  developed  a  method  of  historical  research  and  authority  as 
magnificent  as  the  results  are  commendable." — New  York  Scientific  American. 

"He  has  reduced  the  writing  of  history  to  an  exact  science." — S.  F.  Chronicle. 

"He  has  applied  the  scientific  methods  of  history -writing  in  a  manner  never  before 
dreamed  of."— Record- Union. 

"Beyond  all  the  patient  labor  in  marshalling  details,  Mr  Bancroft  shows  also  a 
sound,  healthy  literary  judgment." — Atlantic  Monthly. 

"He  has  investigated  with  the  most  conscientious  care  and  criticised  with  no  little 
skill  the  enormous  mass  of  official  documents  which  in  different  ways  relate  to  his 
subject;  and  he  has  digested  the  results  of  his  laborious  toil  into  a  narrative  clear, 
logical,  and  attractive." — London  Times. 

"You  have  handled  a  complex,  sometimes  even  tangled  and  tautological,  subject, 
with  much  clearness  and  discrimination." — J.  R.  Lowell. 

1 '  The  plan  of  the  great  work  has  been  honored  in  the  execution." — Daily  Oregonian. 

"It  is  a  monument  of  well-directed  industry  and  great  ability." — Edinburgh 
Scotsman. 

"A  lasting  monument  to  the  scholarship  and  ability  of  its  author." — Louisville 
Courier-Journal. 

"The  industry,  the  sound  judgment,  and  the  excellent  literary  style  displayed  in 
this  work  cannot  be  too  highly  praised.  It  stands  quite  alone  of  its  class  in  this  depart 
ment." — Boston  Post. 

"Mr  Prescott  was  carried  away  by  his  vivid  imagination,  and  errs  in  excess.  Mr 
Morgan  errs  in  the  opposite  direction.  Mr  Bancroft  avoids  both  extremes.  Without 
such  preliminary  work  as  that  which  has  been  done  by  Mr  Bancroft,  a  history  would  be 
impossible. — Edinburgh  Review. 

"The  manner  in  which  you  have  sifted  and  weighed  the  testimony,  derived  as  it  is 
from  various  and  sometimes  contradictory  sources;  the  penetration  and  impartiality  you 
have  displayed  in  discarding  whatever  is  erroneous  or  doubtful,  and  accepting  that  only 
which  is  well  authenticated,  would  be  creditable  in  a  judicial  investigation."—/.  Ross 
Browne. 

"Never  was  a  large  library  more  thoroughly  ransacked  or  more  completely  laid 
under  tribute  by  a  writer." — The  Nation. 

"When  Mr  Bancroft  expresses  opinions  of  his  own,  or  discourses  on  the  bearing 
and  significance  of  the  observations  of  others,  he  performs  the  part  of  the  enlightened 
critic  with  much  shrewdness  and  modesty." — London  Telegraph. 

"The  history  of  this  book,  as  well  as  its  contents,  is  of  public  interest." — London 
Academy. 

"There  is  nothing  in  the  world  which  exactly  corresponds,  in  value,  in  interest,  in 
abundance,  and  in  completeness  with  this  priceless  library.  Every  reader  must  admire 
the  single-heartedness  with  which  he  devotes  himself  to  the  investigation  of  facts.  His 
volumes  are  really  a  marvel  of  research  and  discrimination.  Although  he  does  not 
conceal  his  consciousness  of  a  mission,  he  shows  no  trace  of  the  credulity  with  which 
specialists  are  apt  to  pursue  the  inquiries  to  which  they  have  devoted  their  lives.  His 
sound  judgment  is  no  less  apparent  on  the  pages  of  his  work  than  his  indefatigable 
diligence  and  supreme  self-devotedness.  No  one  but  an  enthusiast  could  grapple  with 
such  a  task,  but  his  enthusiasm  is  without  weakness,  and  is  inspired  by  the  pure  love  of 
knowledge,  not  by  the  caprices  of  sentiment.  Hence  it  is  of  the  quality  demanded  for 
the  successful  accomplishment  of  one  of  the  foremost  literary  enterprises  of  the  day." — 
New  York  Tribune. 

"What  good  sense,  painstaking  labor,  and  honesty  in  purpose  can  hope  to  achieve, 
Mr  Bancroft  has  accomplished."— London  Standard. 

"Nothing  seems  to  have  been  too  minute  to  escape  his  eyes." — Boston  Transcript. 

"The  history  of  literature  does  not  contain  many  exnmples  of  a  grander  literary 
purpose,  a  more  thorough  preparation,  or  a  more  successful  achievement." — Boston 
Congregationalist. 

"An  herculean  task;  but  it  is  one  for  which  he  has  already  demonstrated  his 
fitness."— New  York  Critic. 

"An  undertaking  of  great  magnitude,  which  only  a  fortune,  united  with  the  requisite 
energy  and  scholarly  acquirements  of  the  author,  could  have  reached." — Chicago  Inter- 
Ocean. 

"The  materials  collected,  the  authorities  consulted,  the  skill  with  which  all  have 
been  collated  and  arranged,  and  the  attractiveness  of  style  in  which  the  whole   has 
been  presented  to  the  public,  merits  the  highest  praise." — London  Homing  Post. 
LIT.  IND.    3. 


